Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm happy to provide an update on the midwifery program. The major issue we have right now is with staffing. The Fort Smith program is now Monday to Friday because they're down two staff. We're also looking for a senior consultant in Yellowknife. So we're not fully staffed anywhere so it's difficult for us to move forward with the implementation program until that happens. Thank you.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. In her recent update to me by email, the Minister noted that for the territorial midwifery program, it's being guided by something called an implementation project charter. That's the first time I've heard of a charter outside of the actual strategy.
So can the Minister tell us when and how the charter was developed, including what involvement there was from stakeholders such as the Midwives Association of the NWT? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, a project charter is like a vision and mission statement. It sets out the project that is to be accomplished, breaks it down into timing, responsibilities and actions, and so on. The project charter for midwifery was created in 2021 to guide the work of implementation of the midwifery program. It's an internal document that employees refer to and measure their progress against. And while it wasn't developed specifically with external stakeholders, I'm sure the Member is aware that there was a very thorough public engagement on the question of midwifery in 2017, and the results of that engagement informed both the project charter and the implementation. Thank you.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'd be interested in seeing the project charter at some point, but. And the Minister spoke of the difficulty in staffing these positions. So can the Minister tell us whether there's a recruitment and retention strategy for the territorial midwifery program or what special considerations are required as part of an overall health worker strategy to maintain midwifery? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Yes, thank you. We currently have two ads out for midwives. One that is for two midwives in Fort Smith, and one is for a senior consultant in Yellowknife. Those ads are open until filled. The one for the midwives in Fort Smith has been up for three weeks; the other one for Yellowknife has been up for one week. So midwives are included as people who can have the benefit of the labour market supplement recruitment and retention payments, as well as the other incentives that we introduced such as having friends and family coming to spend holidays with people who are working here. So I think our greatest challenge, really, is the same as it is for other health professionals, which is convincing them to make the Northwest Territories a longterm home so that we can provide stability and continuity in patient services. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that, sincerely thank her because that was a lot of good news there and I hadn't heard all of that, so. But I think we need to start to think about evaluation of this moving forward as well. So how is the implementation working group and the project charter preparing for the essential task of gathering data and evaluating program effectiveness, including the engagement of stakeholders such as parents, staff, and advocates? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to say that there is a performance measurement framework. It captures a broad range of activities that are part of the implementation plan for midwifery, and it adheres to the recommendations that were provided in the stakeholder engagement in 2017. So I am not sure when this first measurement framework will be complete and ready for the public to review, but that's certainly something I can provide as a followup. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Could the Minister please provide us with an update on the Tulita Health Centre? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, right now we are working with the department of health to have a look at the project going forward. Thank you.
Okay, so not much of an update. Can the Minister respond to whether or not Clark Builders, the contractor for that work, has demobilized from site? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. No.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm a bit confused by that answer as it's been brought to my attention by several people in the area that the health centre has now been halted and is not progressing. Can the Minister please speak to the rumors and why that would be being said? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the construction of the Tulita Health Centre was suspended in June of 2021. We had concerns from the community that during COVID that they did not want anybody outside of the residents to be in the community so therefore we did put a halt on it. And right now we are continuing discussions with the department of health to see what we do with the project. I don't have answers right now other than we are looking into it. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that work did resume on the health centre over the last while and that since then there's been a demobilization or a stop of work. Can the Minister speak to that? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we did work with the department of health. We went back to the community. We are we did halt, that is correct. And now we're looking at trying to get the project back on track. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm going to continue along this line of questioning.
Can the Minister speak to when the last halting or demobilization or stoppage of work at the Tulita Health Centre occurred? It must have been past the time of the COVID stopping. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I don't know the dates. I can get back to the Member with the timeline on what we've been doing with the project. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm disappointed to hear that the Minister doesn't have this answer, considering it's an outstanding request that I have into her department that I've yet to see a response for. Maybe the question is when will the Minister respond to me with my answers to my questions? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we can definitely work with the staff at infrastructure and pull up the BF and make sure that we respond. Thank you.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, is it the intent of the Department of Infrastructure to retender this project or; i.e., send it out for another RFP round? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. The project for the Tulita Health Centre, we're still having discussions. The BF is due tomorrow. We'll try and get a response back to the Member. In terms of what do we do going forward, we're still having those discussions. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the BF for this or as the public doesn't know, the email for this question that I've asked the Minister is not due tomorrow. It is actually overdue, and I would like that to be clarified for the record. Thank you.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, healthcare in small communities is not serving the needs of small community residents. There are numerous firsthand experiences of repeated misdiagnosis, which can lead to fatal outcomes for patients. The department states that "regular audits are undertaken at each health centre." Can the Minister of Health and Social Services provide:
The results of the audits undertaken at each healthcare centre in the Deh Cho region in the past five years;
The results of any data collected from healthcare centres related to client satisfaction of Indigenous people, specifically in the Deh Cho region;
The prioritized topics of each healthcare centre audit in the Deh Cho region over the last five years; and
Details of how the audits assess misdiagnosis, and the results of what is known about misdiagnosis in the Deh Cho region.
Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act.
Bill 56 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 20th, 2022 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.
On October 16th, 2022, the standing committee held a public hearing and a clausebyclause review of the bill with the Minister responsible for the Housing Northwest Territories.
Madam Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Bill 56 stands referred to Committee of the Whole.
Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3419(2): Report on the Review of the 20202021 Annual Report of the Ombud. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I wish to table the following document: It's a letter dated January 13th, 2023 from the Minister of Lands; the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources; the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, to myself dated February 16th, 2023. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion?
Question.
