Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. One of the most common questions that I get from constituents right now is in regards to family unification and being able to visit with family in the Northwest Territories. I am wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services can speak to instances where family is allowed to come to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the COVID virus came, when it started happening all over the world, the GNWT took extreme measures to ensure that we restricted a lot of things, and that meant closing down some of our long-term care centres, and that meant putting restrictions in place. I look back, and a lot of family were not able to visit, and that was hard for a lot of families because we weren't allowing them into the long-term care centres. You look at some of the places now, and there are innovative ways where we can allow visits that are safe to our elders and seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the most common reasons that people reach out for wanting family members to come north is because of compassionate exemptions for childcare. A lot of people are still working, schools are closed, and childcare is very expensive in the Northwest Territories, and so they are looking to have family members come north to provide childcare assistance. I'm just wondering, what is the proper way for people to request these exemptions through the Department of Health and Social Services?
There are two public health officers to put orders in place, however, within the orders, there are exemptions. One of the exemptions is to make an application to Protect NWT or call 8-1-1 and request the exemption for families to be able to reunite, especially in the situation of childcare.
What is the anticipated wait time that somebody should expect to hear back from Protect NWT?
It varies. I talked in the House this week about how busy our Protect NWT is, and how busy our 8-1-1 is. We are getting to the tune of 1,600. I can't remember, but we are getting a lot of requests for exemptions, for complaints, for enforcement, border control. Our Chief Public Health Officer mentioned that it would take anywhere between five to 10 days for a response. With that, I ask residents and people who are coming to the Northwest Territories to plan ahead. You can't expect to just file your self-isolation plan and expect to know in a day or two. It does take time. If people are travelling around, you should file your plan as soon as you know. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Though I appreciate that, I know that a lot of GNWT employees were redeployed to help out Protect NWT, and I definitely appreciate that they volunteered for that. I'm wondering, given that there is such a desire for people to find out more information about this, if the Department of Health and Social Services is willing to put this information online so that residents can have easier access to how to go about this process. Thank you.
Absolutely. As things change and as things develop within this COVID-19, our department is frequently updating our website. We are providing information through media, through a variety of radio, the list continues. Our department continuously provides communication as things come up, and that is important. People in the Northwest Territories would like to know when things are happening, when changes are being made to different orders, how we're moving into different phases. It's very important that communication continues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
