Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends the Department of Health and Social Services review and relax administrative requirements to access OntheLand Healing Fund with a view to ensuring full uptake of budgeted funds in 20222023, and report whether the funds were dispersed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think one thing that's really important to remember here is that even if the government feels that their application process is not onerous and that it doesn't take much time, the fact that there is an application process will deter a lot of people from applying for this money. And that's shown by the fact that only half of the money was spent in the last fiscal year. So therefore I support this motion, and I would like really strongly for the government to consider what they think is a burden or is onerous is not what residents or other governments think is not onerous. Thank you.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories increase funding for grants and contribution programs that target men's wellness. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Johnson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't intend to rehash the entire history of the A New Day Program here, but I do think that we have changed the model to hopefully run a number of men's wellness programs and men's healing programs across the territory in partnership with Indigenous governments. But as noted in the previous motion, the uptake on a lot of this funding has not been there and I think the department needs to set its mind to, you know, trying to make sure that those programs are up and running. This is discussed further in the report noting that, you know, young men in our territory are more likely to commit suicide than other places and that we all know that young men are overly incarcerated, are far more likely to commit domestic violence. There's no shortage of need for healing in this area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I'm in full support of this motion. I think Mr. Johnson said it really well in regards to our young men and our men in our small communities that really need help and programming and having an outlet to be able to deal with issues that they're you know, that's affecting them. But just I'm really happy it's coming forward to this, and I look forward to full support of it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services, in consultation with Indigenous governments and by spring 2023, sponsor a men's wellness conference. The conference should focus on healing, learning, and sharing about the root causes of issues facing some men such as racism, trauma, isolation, violence, and addictions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services, in collaboration with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, add an eighth priority area to the addictions, prevention, and recovery work plan focusing on people aged 29 and under. This priority area should include clear commitments and performance measures to increase access and uptake in counselling and healing supports and increase youth participation in sports and recreation, including measures to improve access to facilities and programming. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think this very nicely lines up with the motions that we moved here on the floor on Monday around suicide prevention and the supports for youth. It has been proven that young people that are involved in physical activity or have a sense of feeling like they belong somewhere are going to be more less likely to become addicts and/or have thoughts of suicide. I think that this motion clearly shows how our issues cover multiple departments, I think, within our government, and we often spoke about the breaking down of silos. So I strongly support this motion and hope that the government is listening, that we need to divert our youth from this stream instead of trying to save them later. Thank you.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, you know, I support this motion, and I guess it would have been nice if it was expanded to the arts as well because not all you know, not all youth are it's just not sports. It's arts. Like, for instance, you know, recently I talked about the Kole Crook Fiddle Association and the good work they do in the communities. And so we have to make sure that, you know, the programs we have out there fit everybody, and not everybody's into sports, not everybody's into arts. So we just got to make sure that, you know, we look at, you know, all facets of that and ensure that the funding is there to support it. And also encourage, you know, parents and family members to encourage their, you know, their children or their peers to become involved as well. Thank you.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services implement an approach to measure whether users and nonusers of GNWT addictions services find those services to be culturally safe and provide a timeline for implementation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The motion is in order. Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it was obvious during the briefing, or debriefing, whatever you want to call it, with the AOG that this term of "cultural safety" and "indiginization" is thrown around quite lightly within or often within departments but without a real clear understanding of what that actually means. I don't have all of my notes from that meeting in front of me at the moment, but it was apparent to us that the AOG was not finding that the government was meeting this commitment at all. And so I just can't stress enough again how important this is for the government to actually be measuring whether or not what they're doing is culturally appropriate or culturally safe rather than just telling people that it is culturally appropriate and culturally safe given that it's coming from a colonial perspective. Thank you.
Mahsi. Mr. Johnson.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to just point to the wording of "non-users" in here. I think the department and the work plan has made some good commitment to, you know, survey and work with users of our addiction services, follow up with them, try and get some sort of tracking on how our services are working. It's a much harder ask to track people who are not using your system, but I think there is a wealth of information and lessons to be learned from people who, you know, perhaps tried ten years ago once to approach the GNWT for addictions services and have never felt safe going back or perhaps have never felt safe, you know, approaching the use of ours services. And so I think the department's going to have to make a concerted effort and get creative in approaching people who, you know, are suffering from addiction but are not willing to seek help and identify the barriers that they face. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct a wholeofgovernment review of cultural safety in all standards and policies associated with GNWT programs and services and provide a timeline for implementation. This review should identify barriers to cultural safety to inform efforts to remove or reduce identified barriers. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services and health and social services authorities, in collaboration with the Department of Finance, prioritize their commitment to revise hiring practices for addictions positions to recognize the value of Indigenous qualifications. Committee further recommends the timeline for this work be moved up by six months, to 20232024. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Johnson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services and health and social services authorities review and adjust standards of practice to recognize the value of Indigenous knowledge and provide a timeline for implementation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
