Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services following up on what my colleague from Thebacha has been asking.
If we're waiting on the data from this wellness centre in Yellowknife as stated, then that puts the centres outside of Yellowknife into years, if not a decade, before that they would be constructed. How is the Minister and the department making this a priority given the need outside the capital for these services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you. I take it that the Member is talking about buildings. We don't have any buildings on the books other than the wellness and recovery centre in Yellowknife. In Members decide that's a priority, they should bring it to the regular business plan process and pursue the resources necessary to build and operate it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since I asked how this was going to be a priority, I guess the Minister's response is that it's not.
The next question I have is has the Minister contacted the federal government to advocate for the reinstatement of the funding for survivors of residential school trauma so that the face-to-face counseling is reinstated and the services can resume; and, if she hasn't, why not? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aftercare is a huge priority for me. I spoke about it endlessly as a regular Member, and I continue that passion in this role now.
I'd just like to clarify that the Indian Residential counseling Service is not, in fact, cancelled. The service has been reduced so that facetoface counseling occurs less often, approximately every four to six weeks, and there are alternative ways t-to to obtain counseling between times using the phone and the internet and so on as constituent as residents are comfortable in and according to the technology that they have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask that the Minister listen more carefully. I did not ask about or state that these services were cancelled. I asked about advocating for the reinstatement of the funding so that the services being more than every eight weeks or six to four is reinstated. However, I'm going to move on because I'm going to guess that I'm probably not getting answers to these questions either.
If we are going to be putting people on to virtual care and services, what is the Minister and department doing to identify and accommodate residents in small communities who require counseling but may not have access to the phone or internet or be comfortable with that method of delivery? Thank you.
Yes, thanks. I'm not a big fan of all the editorializing but I'm happy to answer the questions.
So most communities have a resident counselor through either the community counseling service or the child and youth counseling program. And in the event that they don't have a resident counselor, a counselor visits on a known schedule to provide those services.
I recognize from my own travels in the NWT that it's not easy in some communities to obtain enough internet connectivity to sustain a conversation, especially one that has video related to it, and that's a real impediment to the services that people receive. At this point, that is an issue that is beyond my department to solve. But we are keen to offer services to as many people in as timely a way as possible to preserve or enhance their mental health. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I'm not a fan of the way the Minister speaks to me either but we can't always get what we want, can we?
Can the Minister please tell us how she actually advocates with the federal government for more money for supports for our people besides the FPT tables? Does she ever contact the federal minister outside to tell them what is going on in the territory? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. I'll take that question on notice.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
