Agreed.
Clause 14, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clause 15, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clause 16, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clause 17, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes consideration of Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to the witnesses. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.
We will now consider Tabled Document 69419(2), Northwest Territories Coroner Service 20212022 Early Release of Suicide Data. I will now open the floor for comments. MLA for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, after the coroner's report was publicly released in September and then was tabled here in the House, committee wanted to immediately move it into Committee of the Whole to have the opportunity to discuss it at a later date if needed because committee wanted to be able to give attention to this very, very serious concern. The coroner themselves were quoted in local media as releasing this report for the purpose of drawing attention to it and to the increase in suicide in the Northwest Territories so that the government would have the opportunity to make immediate action. And the Standing Committee on Social Development wanted the opportunity to advocate for that same action to the Government of the Northwest Territories. So that was the purpose of moving this into Committee of the Whole. Since then in at the earliest possible time, in the fall sitting, the Standing Committee on Social Development tabled a suicide prevention motion. The response to that motion was received into the House during this sitting, and then this week the Standing Committee on Social Development continued that conversation by tabling a suicide prevention report, which we will also have the opportunity to speak to in Committee of the Whole this week as well.
What I wanted to point out here, Madam Chair, is that the coroner's report has some information that committee or sorry, the coroner's report could have some information that committee feels would be helpful in further and future reporting of suicide in the territories so that the GNWT can be a lot more targeted and strategic in suicide prevention going forward.
The coroner's report currently doesn't have any information on race or ethnicity or on regional distinction of suicide either. The information that committee has on who is being harmed by suicide in the territory was just from who we know in the territory as MLAs because the territory is a very small territory and we are all connected at the end of the day.
And so I'll leave this at that, and we'll have the opportunity as committee to further discuss the work of committee when we discuss the suicide prevention report that committee tabled. But I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the coroner for publishing their interim report and for pointing out and raising the alarm bells as far as suicide in the territory.
I think it's worth pointing out and giving credit to the coroner where credit is due, that until this interim report from the coroner was released, it was never validated that there was a mental health crisis in the Northwest Territories. And following the release of the coroner's report, the government validated what it had been hearing from members of the public, that there was a mental health there was and is a mental health crisis in the Northwest Territories. So thank you to the coroner for that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any further comments? Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And to follow up further on what my colleague said I also do want to thank the coroner for raising this alarm. However, it speaks volumes to me that it took getting this report out early for the government to pay any attention to the fact that we were in a mental health crisis and continue to be so and had been for quite a while I think before the end of 2022.
We wrote to the Minister, we had made people aware, we raised the issue at early as 2020 that there were increasing numbers of people that were having suicidal ideation, that people who had not previously shown to have mental health issues were now identifying themselves as needing help and finding very much that the help was lacking. To me, there's nothing more appalling and shameful as a government that when somebody is asking for help, whether it be in our addictions and our suicide rates, in anything, that they don't get the help that they need. And I can't tell you the number of stories that I hear of people showing up at the hospital under some sort of emergency situation from a mental health perspective and being turned away. In fact, the government has flown people to Yellowknife to go to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and then just release them with nothing and sent them back home to their home community. To me, again, very appalling. I think that this government and the lack of response from the Department of Health and Social Services to the increasing alarms of the mental health problems as early as 2020, that a lot of this is on them and that they are responsible for what has happened here. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. No, I just want to also thank the coroner for bringing this report forward. And I really we've been hit hard in my communities that I represent with suicide, and it's still a lot of attempts are going on and any help that we could get from our government which we were really lucky that we worked with our Minister to get that done. I still thank her for today in regards to that, for all the help that she's done for my riding when this was happening. And I know my leadership all back home are thankful for that too. This is a really touchy subject, you know, since COVID COVID was with us two years ago, and the effects it has on our people in regards to, you know, the stresses of, you know, a place to live, for food, everything. It all has a rippling effect of what's happening with our the people that we work for, who we represent.
I lost a lot of good young people in my riding, and it's really tough for me to sit here and to talk about it because, you know, you just want to keep moving forward and helping everybody else around you. But I know the intention of the government is trying to work with us to get this done. But, again, we have to put the people first in stuff like this. And to be able to have the assistance and the funding to support our communities of getting making sure that we have people that when something like this happens like they did back home with having people that they could talk to and listen to listen to them in regards to the grief that they're going through, because it's not only when the person does that, it's the whole family and the community that hurt and we just keep lifting up each other to try to work together to you know, to help the family in their time of need. And I know that on both side of the House, I know it's sensitive and all Members are we're not all of us dealt with this, one or two in our riding. You know, I dealt with six and that's really tough. But I want to like I said, I want to commend my Minister for all the help that she's done in my time of need in my community and my riding of Tuk and Nunakput as a whole. And, you know, we just got to work together. This is too sensitive to be playing politics with it. And but I really want to thank the person that brought this forward and bring it to our attention. And any time that we dealt with it in the House and any time that I called my Minister, she's always been there for us. And, again, thank you for that, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Any further comments? Committee, do you agree that you've concluded consideration of Tabled Document 69419(2), Northwest Territories Coroner Service 20212022 Early Release of Suicide Data?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Committee, we've agreed to consider Committee Report 5019(2), Strengthening Community Supports, Lifting Youth Voices: Recommendations on Suicide Prevention. I will go to the chair of Standing Committee on Social Development for any opening comments. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the committee's report was read into the record on March 27, 2023. In October 2022, the Office of the Chief Coroner released the 20212022 early release of suicide data to raise alarms on the upsurge of deaths to suicide in the Northwest Territories. According to the Office of the Chief Coroner, the majority of those impacted were males between the age of 20 and 29 in the Beaufort Delta and North Slave regions of the NWT.
In response to the loss of life among youth to suicide, the committee prioritized speaking to youth on the topic of suicide prevention efforts and advocating for accessible resources and supports.
I would like to thank the youth who shared recommendations and also their lived experiences courageously with the committee. From you, we learn and we take your lead.
In this report, Members will see that youth were clear in their responses. Youth know what they want. It is up to this Assembly to hold the government to account to provide what youth need for suicide prevention strategies.
The recommendations in this report are in direct response to what committee heard from the youth of the Northwest Territories. Madam Chair, youth need action taken now, not tomorrow, and not in 120 days.
Madam Chair, I'd also like to thank committee. Committee members all live in the Northwest Territories, and every single one of us are either directly or indirectly impacted by suicide in the Northwest Territories. And this was incredibly heavy work that committee waded into. But committee also made commitments to the people that they serve to step in to heavy work without delay on behalf of the residents of the Northwest Territories. So with that, I would also like to thank staff.
We have Indigenous staff who work with us at the Legislative Assembly as well who agree up in small communities outside of Yellowknife, in some cases know some of the people that we were speaking to when we were speaking to people who lost their life to suicide last year. And so this was very heavy and very difficult work that the staff followed us into wholeheartedly and participated in. So I also want to thank staff who partook in this. So thank you. Thank you, both.
Madam Chair, individual committee members might have comments at this time. Thank you.
Thank you. Now I'll open the floor to general comments on Committee Report 5019(2). Do any Members have general comments? Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I too just wanted to thank to take a moment to specifically thank or staff and anybody that did contribute to this report and the work that we've done. It was very weighty work and very heavy work at times and not only I think for us listening but for people who have to actually come in and share trauma. And it's known that people having to relive and over and over telling their stories that that in itself at times can be very traumatizing. So I do really want to thank the staff particularly because I think there was a real sorry, I'm a bit out of breath, Madam Chair. A little bit there was a real insight and wisdom I thought that was provided to us that to help us do this job in a much better and respectful manner. And I don't know that I would have had the insight or some of the thoughts necessarily to have carried it out in the manner that was suggested to us. And I just can't say thank you enough for that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any further general comments? Seeing no further comments. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services provide financial and human resources support to youthled nongovernmental organizations to host a territorial youth conference on mental health and wellness before the end of the 19th Assembly. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, why this motion is important, not only just for the obvious reasons that it's great and we need to have our youth gathering and allow them to have these opportunities, but the reason that we specifically need to highlight this is that a lot of the funding that is provided in the suicide prevention or for youth is limited in the amount of funding that each project or event could apply for. And I believe that's a $45,000 cap. But when we look at some of the recent events that were put on by youth in the territory, some of those were up into the lines of about $100,000, and particularly if we want to bring in youth from other communities, have them liaise with youth in the sister territories of Nunavut and Yukon. So to me, this was very important to not only ensure that there's the financial supports for it but also the human resource supports, but also I think it's really important that it will show youth that our government actually cares. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services develop aftercare processes for persons discharged from hospitals and health centres following suicidal ideation and attempts to reduce suicide reattempts and loss of life. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As I mentioned when we were talking about the coroner's report, I have heard numerous times of people presenting at emergency rooms across the territory and either not even making it in to see anyone given that it's not considered to be high in the priority list when you look at triages in an emergency room situation, the emergency the people working there are going to prioritize physical threats to life that are immediate, such as, you know, injuries and wounds, over mental health concerns. And I'm not saying that's right, but that is what is happening.
I have heard again I mentioned about a person being flown into Yellowknife and then being sent home again and then just discharged from the hospital without ever having any seen any psychiatrists or any social workers, provided with nothing as far as supports. It was on them to follow up when they did get back to their community in order to then get the followup appointments with the community counsellors.
To me, again, it is cruel that when people are showing up in a desperate state of health to our facilities that our facilities are turning them away. The ER is not equipped to deal with mental health issues that present. The psych ward is full. We don't even have a youth psychiatric facility. I have constituents that have reported to me that their children as young as 12 have started to identify with them on suicidal ideation, and these aren't even what we would normally think of as the vulnerable youth that potentially get stereotyped as being the ones that are at risk. These are people it's a cross all, all socioeconomic lines. And so as such, to me, it actually almost seems like a legal liability that we are sending people away who are at risk and not giving them any sort of follow up. It's just actually quite mindboggling and it's actually very inhumane. And, Madam Chair, I cannot stress this motion enough and I hope it will be supported, and I hope the government will actually implement it. Thank you.
Thank you. To the motion. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this is something that we heard directly from youth. It's is also something that I've spoken about numerous times in this House.
On multiple occasions every year since being elected as the MLA of Kam Lake, I have received phone calls from families, particularly parents, who recount their experiences to me. And the consistent piece of information that I am told is that when their youth have gone to the hospital there has been no effort to create a safety plan. There has been no follow up. And there has been no feeling of support as they leave our hospital here in Yellowknife. And I can only speak to here in Yellowknife.
This is a huge concern. And I look at this from the side that when somebody is sitting in front of us and we have the option of a second chance, we have to take that second chance.
I have also had the privilege to sit next to somebody at Stanton who was given a second chance. And when the doctor came into the room to talk to them about what had happened to them, the questions that were asked of that person were do you get enough sleep, do you drink alcohol, and do you do drugs. And what a youth hears is what are you doing wrong. In that instance, there was no attempt to support that youth before they turned and left the hospital. There was no attempt to give that child hope. And sometimes all a child needs is hope.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services establish a youth and family addictions support and healing centre in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I mean, we've heard time and time again from this Minister and department why we can't have anything here in the territory and it just isn't going to work. Well, when I look at youth who can hardly even sometimes have the ability to move on out of the territory to go to school, who are children that are moving to a positive situation, I don't even understand how we remotely think we should be sending our children away when they are in their most vulnerable position. We pay more attention to the kids going away on SFA and give them more supports than we do with our youth that are struggling. To me this needs to be an Indigenousled government or sorry, an Indigenous governmentled communityled initiative, and it does not need to be clinical the way that the Department of Health and Social Services will try to make it, and it needs to stop being a money decision. We need to have people that are making decisions for patients and people in this territory that are doing so and making the best decision based on treatment options, not on what's the cheapest and how much it costs to send people places. So the only way that we're going to do that is by having a youth facility here and not have people have to go elsewhere or just send youth home and tell the parents that they have to cope with it. Again, all I can say about all of this is how shameful I find it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I know that this is a very big topic that we have heard about throughout the life of this Assembly. I know that there were questions asked today by the Member for Yellowknife South on the floor of the House today and that in response to one of those questions we did hear that the Minister of Health and Social Services is working with Indigenous governments to find out what Indigenous governments would like to see. And so I really hope that within the response to this recommendation that we learn more about what is happening in those conversations, what timelines, if any, might be emerging from those conversations and that we can really get a fulsome idea of what conversations are happening in more detail. Thank you.
Thank you. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I look at this motion and I guess, I think about the youth in Hay River and some of the issues, you know, that I've had to deal with as well. And, again, we are talking about a very vulnerable, you know, population. We're talking about, you know, Indigenous youth and others as well. We're talking poverty, poverty as well. But one thing we don't do is we don't seem to make this a priority. It has to be a priority. We're talking about life and death here. And for some reason, I don't know why, you know, we can't get it through our heads that it's so important. And you know, losing anyone else is just not something we should be looking at. And it always seems to come down to lack of funding. And this cannot be a deterrent. The lack of funding should never be a question or an excuse when we're dealing with youth in these situations. So I would hope that the government will really take a look at this and make sure that we have a process in place to keep youth safe, to make sure they get the help they need, and not use the lack of funding to be a deterrent. Thank you.
