Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I get started, one thought that came to mind of a few people over here is that we do have GSOs in communities, that we've got them in 23 of our 33 communities that might be able to provide some assistance to getting information out and helping people access funds hopefully.
But further to my statement today on doula services, I'm very excited to ask some questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services today about the NWT Birth Work Collective and the work that they're doing to make doula services more accessible in the Northwest Territories.
So my first question today, Mr. Speaker, is for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and I'd like to know, during the 18th Assembly, then Minister of Health and Social Services, Glen Abernathy, made reference to a pilot doula training course in the South Slave and indicated that an evaluation of the pilot course would be the department's next step. So I'm wondering what did this evaluation find? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the question. In February 2019, the Department funded an Indigenous doula maternal support training session that had a number of Indigenous governments as well as the Health and Social Services Authority involved, with a total of 16 participants. The key findings from the participants from this pilot were, first, participants want to support Indigenous women and their families to reclaim their identity, their health, and exercise greater control over their own childbirth and parenting experiences.
Second, doulas and birth work can contribute to the healing and strengthening of families and communities.
Third, locally developed doula training should be tailored to meet the needs of Indigenous and NWT communities.
Fourth, professional certification and credentialing needs to be clarified.
And, fifth, supportive infrastructure needs to be in place for mentorship, funding, connection with community resources, and integration with existing programs and services. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that's great news, and I'm really excited to hear the synopsis of the evaluation from Health and Social Services. I think that's all really good news, and I think it lends well to the direction and the support that we as an Assembly would like to provide to the people of the Northwest Territories.
My next question for the department, which kind of plays off that, is does the department recognize doula services as a viable prevention tool for the people of the Northwest Territories to support healthy families? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes, doulas and Indigenous birth workers are welcomed now in the maternity care setting as an important support for expectant parents and families. They're sometimes doulas are members of the family or extended family. Sometimes they are contracted by the parents to be there to provide the support service. So they, it's important to note, are nonmedical personnel. They are not regulated. But they are hugely respected for the role they play with birthing in the North. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northern Birth Work Collective is all about accessibility. The First Nations Health Authority, the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, and the BC Ministry of Health, currently work together to provide $1000 grants for doula services for Indigenous families living in British Columbia.
To make doula care accessible in the Northwest Territories, the services needs the financial support of Health and Social Services here at home. So will Health and Social Services provide financial grants to NWT residents to support doula services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to take a step back from that question, the department first needs to learn what services are going to be provided. So in the last fiscal year, the department funded the Northern Birth Work Collective to create an Indigenous doula and birth work training program. And we see a lot of potential in this, and we're looking forward to the results of this training and development. And once that's in place, then the department will be in a better situation to learn what the service model is, how communities are going to access the services, and then make an informed decision about what kind of support to provide for families. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just I guess a very selfless plug. Today on the NWT Birth Work Collective's Facebook page, they did advertise a course that will be taking place this summer that will be available over Zoom. And so I would like to invite all of my colleagues to share it with people within their constituencies and the cost of the course is on a sliding scale for what people can afford. So it's a wonderful opportunity.
Given the potential, Mr. Speaker, for great benefits of doula care, I'm wondering if there is a mechanism for how low income NWT residents can access the funds necessary for doula services today in the NWT, and would Child and Family Services assist with this? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, we're a step back from that. We're trying to develop the model of care for doulas within the existing health and social services system that builds on the work that they're doing now and develops models that support collaboration between different partners in the birthing setting, including, of course, communities, families, and health services. So once that's in place, then how low income people can access this with grants would be the logical next step. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are related to my Member's statement in which I voiced displeasure with the health department ignoring our pleas for help in regards to ongoing issues at our health centres. And it could be for many other health centres in the small communities.
I'm trying to get a sense as to why there is no will from the health department to address our health centre issues and complaints. I ask the Premier to enlighten this House and the residents of the Northwest Territories as to the mandate of the Department of Health and Social Services. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Honourble Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those questions are pretty specific, and in that case, then I do not have the answers. I have to defer it to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourble Premier. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member has been consistently critical of the services in his community, and we have paid attention to that. There is staff turnover in his community at this time. There are two nurse vacancies that will probably not be filled right away because nurses are in very short supply. Complaints about staff conduct have been relayed to the Nurses Association and to the GNWT. The Health Authority Management went to meet with staff in the community in April to understand their concerns. There was an audit conducted of programing within the health centre on March the 19th. The COO has made numerous attempts to meet with the leadership in the community, and the most recent information I have is that the community is now willing to meet with him, and that will happen this month. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I know the health centre, they're aware of all the problems, but they haven't been doing nothing for the longest time. Nobody's ever ever reached out to me from the department.
Mr. Speaker, I note the vision of the health department is for best health, best care, for a better future. One of the values is caring, which states we treat everyone with compassion, respect, fairness, and dignity. Another value is accountability, which states system outcomes are measured, assessed, and publicly reported on.
Mr. Speaker, I have been asking the health department if they would consider conducting professional evaluations on the operations of health centres, especially in all the small centres, but to no avail. I asked the Premier, as the leader of her Cabinet colleagues, and the leader of the Minister of Health and Social Services, if she will give direction to the department to begin to develop a system to conduct professional evaluations of all small health centres and that these be conducted on a yearly basis. Mahsi.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make the distinction between the Department of Health and Social Services and the Health and Social Services Authorities. The Department of Health and Social Services is the policy arm of the operation. The implementation on the ground in the health centres is the Health and Social Services Authority. I haven't received a request from another health centre for a program audit. But one was done at the health at the Fort Providence health centre on March the 19th. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when there are problems with nurse practitioners or a nurseincharge, the health department sends you to speak to the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Although the department directs you to them, the department does not follow up with any issues of concern that was brought to their attention. They have basically washed their hands of any issues at health centres. This is a far cry from a health system that is measured, assessed, and publically reported on. Will the Premier please intervene and fix the health system that is broken? Mahsi.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the number of times the authority and the department have been up and down the highway to speak with the leadership in Fort Providence about the issues in their health centre, I don't think it's at all fair to characterize us as ignoring the situation. We are fully engaged. I am really pleased to hear now the community is ready to meet with the COO of the Deh Cho Region and start working on the specific issues that the Member has raised and I encourage them to go forward with the meeting that is planned this month. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Round 2. I have a question for the community of we have our teaching staff that are being I guess school year is ending in 17 days. We have some people in our communities that haven't been vaccinated yet. I'm just wondering if we could get an updated list of when are we able to get the vaccinations prior to the 17 days, prior to the teachers leaving. So it would have to be done sooner rather than later so they could go home for the summer, Mr. Speaker. So that's the first question. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been vaccinating teachers along with the rest of the population, 18 plus, since March. There have been three trips in to Tuktoyaktuk to provide vaccinations. If there are people who still require vaccinations, they should call the health centre and make that need known so that another trip into Tuk can be planned. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are people are calling to get vaccinated. The reason why the holdup is you need ten people to go through one of the vials of the vaccine. And I think people are starting to get really frustrated. I had to go to Inuvik for my second shot because I need to get that done. So we need another goaround in Tuk or in my other communities as well for the teachers, just to make sure that they're vaccinated prior to them leaving for the summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a limiting factor, until yesterday, was that there was no nonessential travel in and out of Yellowknife. And communities made it very clear to us that they did not want to see people from Yellowknife in their communities. That, fortunately, is now over. So we are in a position where we can go back to Tuktoyaktuk and the smaller communities.
One of the reasons that the department wanted to acquire the Pfizer vaccine is because there are six doses in a vial rather than ten. So that means there needs to be fewer people on the waiting list in order to make wastage a very small consideration in making a trip like this. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we want Moderna, not Pfizer. You know, we're worried about what's been happening with the blood clotting with that. I'm not a professional, I just hear people's concerns about it. So I really would like to make sure that our Minister is telling the Beaufort Delta health committee to get people in to get the final shots for the professional and then for my the constituents that never took it, because a lot of them were pretty, not like, more concerned about seeing what's happening before they get everybody else gets their needles. So now that everybody else is doing good so now they want to get their needle. So we need it done as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware of the same kind of adverse effects with the Pfizer vaccine as there have been with the AstraZeneca vaccine. They are different kinds of vaccines. And I don't know a lot about how they're different. I just can tell you that they are apples and oranges in terms of vaccines.
But what I can say is that we are very interested in going back to communities and providing more vaccinations. Just as the Member said, this is what we hoped, that people would see that those who got vaccinated did great, they have a lot more freedom, they can isolate for less time and so on. And so I encourage him to encourage his constituents to get vaccinated as soon as the schedule has the Tuk and Nunakput communities on it. And I'll make sure to send him a notice when that schedule is developed. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I really want to urge my constituents in Nunakput to go and get vaccinated when it's provided by the health authorities in the communities and just to make sure that, you know, get it done, and it's going to shorten up your medical travel; it's going to shorten up your time for isolation, and keeps everybody safe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Rolling action! The Next 5 Years: Northwest Territories Film & Media Sector Strategy and Action Plan 20212026. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Followup Letter for Oral Question 54419(2) Mental Health During the Pandemic, and Followup Letter for Oral Question 69619(2) Illicit Drug Trade. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: NWT Schools Capital Needs Assessment Summary, Department of Education, Culture, and Employment, April 22, 2003. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, June 3rd, 2021, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2021, is hereby established; and further, that the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories that the Honourable Ted Richard of Sydney, British Columbia, be appointed Chairperson, and Mr. Glen Abernethy of Yellowknife, NWT, and Mr. Jack Rowe of Hay River, NWT, be appointed members of the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Notices of motion. Member for Kam Lake.
