Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for integrated service delivery, the Minister of Justice. The GNWT committed to integrated service delivery as a wholeofgovernment approach at the onset of the government. Is shifting the entire system of the GNWT, the wholeofgovernment integrated service delivery, still within the short or longterm focus of the government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, it is. I would have liked to see more progress on this during the life of this government, but we had quite an ambitious mandate. We dealt with COVID. And we weren't able to put the time into working on integrating services the way I would have liked to see. But it is definitely still a priority for us and for me personally. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I completely agree with the Minister that it needs to be a priority and that it stands to not only better serve Northerners, but it stands to actually save the government quite a bit of money on their bottom line every year.
Earlier this year, the Minister spoke about the challenges associated with privacy laws when trying to provide residents with a multidepartmental approach to service delivery. How is the GNWT addressing this and on what timeline? Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Recently there was a report done that looked at our attempts to integrate services and some of the barriers. And out of that report there were things identified such as these privacy issues. And so from that steps have been taken. Departments are working on addressing those issues. So that work is happening, and it is ongoing. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Recommendation No. 9 of the Report of the Review of the 2022 Audit of Addictions, Prevention and Recovery Services that was tabled by the Standing Committee on Government Operations recommended that the Department of Health and Social Services and the health and social services authorities set up a distinct method for frontline staff to identify barriers to care and cultural safety or propose better practices and policies on an ongoing basis and provide a timeline for implementation.
So will the Minister responsible for integrated service delivery ensure that a similar frontline feedback loop exists for all frontline staff within the government? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I wish I could commit to that. You know, I've spoken about that for years. But that's another area that we are working on. And I wish I had better answers. This is a work in progress. When you have something that includes all of government, it is it's a big project. You have a number of departments. Everyone needs to be on the same page. Everyone needs to be on the same timelines. Everyone needs to be available for the same meetings and there's only so many people to go around. So we are plugging away at it, and we are taking steps in that direction. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I must admit that I do find this very frustrating. It's something that we as Members have been talking about on both sides of the House for the life of this Assembly, but it doesn't seem to be something that really we can move the bar on. And it's very frustrating given how reliant our constituents are on more than one service in order to be able to address their basic needs of life.
So in March of this year, Madam Speaker, the Minister indicated that before income assistance and Housing NWT could provide integrated service delivery that they needed to first agree on principles and standards of practice. Can the Minister confirm if these principles and standards of practice have been agreed on and when integrated service delivery between housing and income assistance will be visible for residents? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'll have to get back to the Member on that. But as we are doing reviews of different programs, for example in ECE, we are taking steps to try and adjust the programs so that we can move towards something like this so that, you know, whether you are an ECE representative or, you know, you worked in the housing frontline, you will have perhaps we're trying to free up time, streamline processes, so that departments can work more closely together. But for the Member's specific question, I will get back to her. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
