Madam Chair, that was one of my questions. I guess I snuck a couple in. Has this issue been raised at federal-provincial-territorial tables with the federal government? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Yes. Thank you. Not in my time as health Minister. The FPT tables are predominantly preoccupied with the pandemic. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I am just trying to figure out: how do we get any traction on this issue? I think as my colleague from Yellowknife North said, it's $2.8 million this year, which might help those people who actually do not get any benefits whatsoever. I don't know. Have we tried writing to the federal Minister? Is there any talk of a reference to the federal courts? I think there is a questions act or something where you can actually refer a matter for a ruling of the court in terms of jurisdictional matters and so on. Any sort of thoughts about what kind of strategy we can use to get the attention of the federal government on this? Look, I recognize we are in a pandemic, but clearly, this has been going on now for a number of years. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Yes. Thank you. I am not aware of anything going on with respect to that. Deputy Minister?
Deputy Minister Cooper.
Thank you. We, as a department, have certainly raised this issue with Indigenous services, but this is a matter of government-to-government relations and something that we also will be working with our partners in EIA on. Thank you.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I might have to ask the EIA Minister about it at some point, but that is all I've got. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Any further questions? Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I was just listening to some of the comments from my colleagues. One of the things I am hearing is the Non-Insured Health Benefits, NIHB. Just from my experience living in a small community, especially when it comes to dental care, it's very tough to really have good dental care in our communities. I've spoken with some people, some of my constituents. It seems like this policy, when you put it in place, they might just rather pull your teeth and be done with it. It's really, really sad to hear. Where I'm going with this is: with the NIHB dental side of things, has the department noticed any changes or more costs associated with the NIHB policy changes in the last few years? Thank you.
Minister.
Thank you. I'll refer that to the assistant deputy minister, please.
Assistant Deputy Minister Elkin.
Thank you. We do work pretty closely with Indigenous Services Canada on the NIHB. As you know, we administer a portion of their programs on their behalf, medical travel, dental travel, medical supplies and equipment, vision. If we are aware of any costs that may be increasing that are having a cost impact on the GNWT in administering the program, we do enter into discussions with them to make sure that they are fully covering the costs. If there are overall costs of their program, I'm assuming that NIHB is monitoring that because they do cover those costs specifically, but again, we have ongoing discussions to make sure that we as a government aren't incurring extra costs related to administering their program. I'm not sure if that answers the question.
Thank you, Mr. Elkin. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. That kind of does answer a little bit about this, but I just want to make sure that my colleagues are aware that there are still some gaps there within it. I know that we go through these COVID pandemic restrictions and all that, and I'm glad to see that the Minister brought back some dental services into our small communities. That is sorely, sorely needed. We need to have more proactive measures like this because, even though there's COVID, life still goes on. We still have to keep our programs going. We still have to take care of our residents. Moving along, I had some questions about the Metis Health Benefits. I've listened to some of the questions here already, and my first question to the Minister is: how often does her department meet with the Metis leadership on finding ways to keep improving their health benefits? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you. The Cabinet had a bilateral meeting with the Metis Nation in January, and this was an item on the agenda. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Madam Chair. No. That's good to hear, that they meet on a regular basis. In speaking with some of the leadership, they said there are still some gaps here that could be addressed. There was something mentioned from the federal side of things, as well, because anytime there are announcements made from Indigenous Services Canada in terms of health coverage, the effects cascade down to us, ultimately. Do these discussions take place at the FTP table? That's for the Minister. Thank you.
Minister.
What I understood is that the question is whether the GNWT meets with Indigenous Services Canada to talk about NIHB? Is that the question? Yes.
I haven't had a meeting like that, but that doesn't mean one hasn't happened. I will ask the deputy minister if he can elaborate. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy Minister Cooper.
I'm afraid I don't have anything to add.
Thank you. Anything further, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh?
No, nothing further. If I have any questions, I'll do it offline. Thanks.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about the NIHB, as well. With respect to dental care, I've been on the receiving end of just getting my teeth pulled because the first thing they ask you is, "What healthcare do you have? NIHB? Oh, sorry." With respect to that, there seems to be a discrepancy, or is there a discrepancy, in costing between status Indians who are Indigenous people who are from the Northwest Territories versus those who are living here, still under NIHB, but from down south? Are they included in the costs that you are showing here? For instance, the Metis, we have services for, say, whatever it was, 15,000, but that's for Indigenous Metis. If you're not Indigenous, then you don't have that service. Is that the same under NIHB with the Indigenous First Nations? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. I'm not sure whether we administer NIHB for non-NWT residents, but I'm sure Assistant Deputy Minister Elkin knows that.
Thank you, Minister. Assistant Deputy Minister Elkin.
Thank you. For the NIHB program, the portions we administer on behalf of the federal government, if there is an eligible NIHB recipient and they are accessing programs and they have an NWT healthcare card and are receiving services here, then yes, we will cover them through the program here. However, for example, if an eligible NIHB recipient is not from the NWT, they can access things like pharmaceutical programs here because they bill directly to the federal government. I'll have to check on the dental, whether or not we require an NWT healthcare card or whether or not it could be anybody who is eligible for NIHB.
Thank you, Mr. Elkin. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the issues that come up in Hay River, as well, is because of the number of non-Indigenous Metis there. They don't have the same coverage as the Indigenous Metis. I look at NIHB, which covers pretty much all the First Nations across Canada, whereas what we have here for the Metis is for a specific group of Metis. The question, and I think maybe it's been answered, is: is the department looking at maybe looking at including the non-Indigenous Metis and looking for additional funds to ensure that all Metis are covered in the Northwest Territories under the Metis Health Benefits? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. I'm not aware that we are considering covering non-Indigenous to the NWT Metis, and we find that ourselves. I would be surprised if we wanted to go to in that direction, given our escalating health costs as they exist now. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We, as a government, use our own resources? We're not receiving federal dollars, then, to fund Metis Health Benefits?
Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That's our tax money that is paying for those benefits. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Have we been in any discussions with the federal government and requested that they provide the funds to cover the Metis Health Benefits? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you. That would be a conversation, I think, for Executive and Indigenous Affairs to have with the federal government, and I'm not aware that they are currently having it. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
