Thank you. The $40 million there that you see ties directly to the $40 million above for medical services. This is fees and payments specifically for the services we pay to other jurisdictions, the invoices we receive from them for their service to us in hospitals and physician services. Correct, we have added $4 million to the budget for 2021-2022 based on our assessment of the forecasted use of those services next year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. That's really helpful to understand. I presume, then, that this section of the budget, there is nothing in here that really deals with after-care. Is that correct?
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, that is correct. After-care takes place in the NWT, and this is an out-of-territory segment.
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. I think it was yesterday the Minister mentioned that the current mental wellness and addictions recovery action plan is expiring in a month or so and that the new one has to be developed. The money for that program is not found here. Is it found somewhere else in the budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. I'm not going to get to the right page in time, but I am going to say that it is within health and social programs, and I see the deputy minister is nodding.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. With that action plan, would we expect to see some changes moving forward with things like addictions treatment facilities, grants, contributions, transfers, that kind of thing, in future budgets with the new action plan? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure that there is a new action plan coming. I think that the department is taking a different approach, as they are with cultural safety, of embedding the work right into the department rather than segregating it into an action plan, but the deputy minister would have more information on this point. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We, of course, have the mandate from this Assembly and have taken great effort to develop an action plan in relation to that mandate, which includes a cluster of indicators that we need to meet. The mandate has been converted to internal action planning and metrics is being driven into the work plans of staff. It is also embedded within our business plan, and it is something that we will certainly be reporting on every year as needed by Members in terms of our accountability for meeting the objectives we have laid out. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. I think I understood parts of that. The survey work that is being done now, how is that going to feed into what this is going to look like in the future, this part of the budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Minister.
Thank you. Is the Member talking about the alcohol survey?
Member.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, the survey that the Minister talked about, I think, even earlier today that's online and you can pick up at the health centres, that kind of stuff. Thanks.
Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The survey is going to fulfill a couple of different purposes. One is that it is going to feed information into the alcohol strategy which is being developed, which is the greatest driver of hospitalizations because of alcohol use. There is that part of it. The other part of it has to do with evaluating how well our current treatment regime is working. I am anticipating that the department will take into account what is collected in the alcohol survey and apply it to planning going forward. That's really the point of having the survey. I don't know if I've captured everything that needs to be said, so I will ask the deputy minister through you if he would like to add anything else. Thank you.
Deputy Minister.
Thank you. Just to say that the survey work is going to inform the work that we are doing on the alcohol strategy within the department, but also the whole-of-government approach that we are taking on that issue. Thank you.
Thank you. Committee, our time is almost up. What is the wish of the committee?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.
The motion is in order. To the motion. [Microphone turned off] I think we had a 2:00 hard stop. Mr. O'Reilly.
Mr. Chair, I would be happy to withdraw the motion, if I can do that procedurally, and we could have one of my colleagues at least ask one more set of questions with the time available. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Okay. That's fine. Ms. Semmler.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My colleagues have asked a lot of the questions, but some of the questions that I have are in the same areas but just a little bit different. In the residential care, I see that we have $35 million. We have $26 million of that, to my understanding, is part of that residential care, and then there's another contracts and services that is $10 million. This services 114 clients and the 50 clients within the Northwest Territories. Can I just get clarification on that?
Minister.
Could the Member please confirm that she is on page 190?
Member.
No. I am on page 189.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is my understanding that all of this residential care money concerns youth and adults who are seeking services outside of the NWT.
Thank you. Member.
The 50 clients that my colleague asked about, that the deputy minister mentioned, in the Northwest Territories is not included in this?
Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is correct.
Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Out of this $35 million, then, we are spending $35 million on 114 residents. I know I stressed this the last time we brought up the mains, and now we are going out for an RFP to see how we can plan on possibly transitioning some of these residents home. My question for some of this is: what is the percentage of Indigenous versus non-Indigenous of these people who are outside of the NWT in these facilities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
I'm sorry, I don't have that information. I wonder if the deputy minister -- he doesn't have it, either. We'll have to return with that information.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sure he won't have the information that I'm going to ask for next, so I'm just going to continue to ask it. That way, I can get that commitment to have the answers. I would like to also know, out of these 114 clients, how many of those clients are from Yellowknife? How many of those clients are from regional centres? How many of those clients are from small communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Can I just clarify: is the Member asking where they were born or where they lived when they were referred to southern treatment? What kind of a classification is she looking for here? At what point in their lives does she want them classified by location?
Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If we're paying for people to live outside of the NWT, then they must come from the NWT somewhere, so they must have families or they must originate from either the capital, the regional centres, or the small communities. That's the percentage that I would like to have of all the residents who are outside the territory.
