Member from Monfwi, your time is up.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of MACA.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my statement is on the Tulita Health Centre that's currently under construction, a very unique design building located in the central part of the community. However, the project has encountered numerous delays, and today we're proud to say it's got a deadline for completion.
The 18th Assembly approved this capital project some five years ago. After COVID delays, recent barging delays due to low water levels, constant delays have faced this project from moving ahead. I was proud to escort the Minister of ECC and the Minister of Health and Social Services there during the week of July -- or pardon me, September the 23rd. Another delay happened where we couldn't make the trip in to Tulita to see the building and the residents as well because of bad weather. However, with deteriorating materials as we move along, the project is now at the very foot of a schedule that's going to see completion within the next couple of years.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very essential building and, as I mentioned, one long overdue, and despite the fact of challenges I'm proud to say, underneath this new administration or this new leadership we're going to see the light of day. Later I will have questions to the appropriate Minister. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last night the Premier and health Minister presented to the Standing Committee on Social Development on their new health system sustainability unit. I want to be clear that I commend the Premier for taking this action and support this initiative.
Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to get some comments on the record about this initiative. I heard staff saying they're not just looking at reducing service but repeatedly referring back to the core services inventory, so it really seemed to me like services are currently the focus and appreciated the Premier's reassurance in that regard and just wanted to, again, get my comments on the record that I want us to look a little deeper.
Mr. Speaker, in March, the territorial medical association sent a letter to the Minister of health titled Restoring Balance with a number of recommendations for improving system sustainability. Those recommendations included reducing unnecessary medical travel, reducing inefficient administrative tasks, workforce planning, and optimizing partnerships for quality improvement. So there are a lot of changes aside from just service reductions that we can look at, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the NWTMA advocated for reevaluation of the health system's leadership model. This included the following recommendations which are particularly relevant to assessing the current management structures. They recommended that we analyze the efficiency of the current administrative model, including identifying and reducing any duplication of management positions between health and social services and NTHSSA and supporting a distributed leadership model that encourages problem solving close to the source rather than top down decision-making.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about system sustainability, we need to be talking about the management and staff retention concerns Members have been detailing repeatedly in the House this sitting and have pointedly emphasized in our accountability and oversight committee report read into the record yesterday.
Mr. Speaker, I stand by that report and support and encourage the Minister to take bold and decisive action to address these issues. As a start, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to see a public acknowledgement by the Minister of the significant systemic issues facing our health care system and public communication of a comprehensive plan to address them. Mr. Speaker, the principles of good leadership and management tell us that listening to frontline staff is key to effective decision-making. Let's listen to our doctors' and nurses' suggestions and carefully consider them in reviewing health care system sustainability. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the system sustainability unit needs to rate options based on potential savings level of impact and ease of implementation, and I can't overemphasize enough the need to use change management principles and comprehensive planning when changes are proposed. We have to plan out our changes carefully to ensure effective implementation. Mr. Speaker, we are in this together. I know the health Minister wants to see change. I know MLAs want to see change. And staff want to see change. Let's get it done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about trauma and substance abuse problems of which is -- trauma is a priority of this government. Here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, especially in our small communities, we see intergenerational trauma and its impacts. Broadly, intergenerational trauma can be caused by a variety of different factors including removal of -- removal from homelands, genocide, sexual or gender violence, institutionalized and direct racism, incarceration, and exploitation.
We are all aware of the legacy of the residential school systems in the NWT. The tragic effects of these are still visible today and have led to trauma that is passed on through generations.
Mr. Speaker, many of those who went to residential schools turn to substance abuse as a way of coping. We know from government data that rates were alcohol abuse are high in the Northwest Territories. According to a 2023 report from the NWT statistics bureau, 72.3 percent of current drinkers in the Deh Cho riding are classified as heavy drinkers.
Mr. Speaker, we hear about the youth in Fort Smith this morning on CBC radio. This is also happening in our communities. Addictions destroy families. There is a strong link between trauma and addictions. Intergenerational trauma is alive and well from the government's decades of abuse of our people. I would like to know what our government is doing to address this problem. What opportunities are in place for healing for our people? I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It should be of no surprise that after hundreds of years of colonial governance, Indigenous communities struggle with our health care services and still do to this day. Our community has a long history of discriminatory practice such as forced sterilization, lack of acceptance for health and healing traditions, and this has fostered much fear and mistrust. This is compounded by the fact that their communities remain unserved by health and care services all while they suffer more than other populations from serious illness such as cancer due to contamination and pollution. It should therefore come as no surprise that they struggle to work with health care staff who often come from outside of the North, and they struggle too because they are often just as supported as the communities they are trying to serve.
In the last Assembly, improving cultural safety in our health care system and increase in services in our small communities was a big priority resulting in a report brought forward by the previous Minister which focused on providing the North with a culturally safety action plan. As a result, a cultural safety antiracism unit within the Department of Health and Social Services and Indigenous support staff at the office of the client experiences. However, my communities remain frustrated with a lack of community-based long-term care, northern-based addiction treatment and options, widespread midwifery services and recreation services for the youth. Now the Dene Nation has come forward with their own recommendations for this government to improve Indigenous health care. They are seeking the creation of a health care task force to ensure the development of strategies that are more responsive to the Dene people and their needs, provisions to provide health care workers with cultural training to enable them to understand and respect the values and beliefs and customs of the Dene people, an establishment of health care clinics in underserved areas where there is significant geographical barriers of lack of adequate and health infrastructure. The right of health care is for Indigenous nations, and this is a treaty right as the treaty included a clause to provide each community with a medicine chest. Today it feels like they're simply establishing more bureaucracy in the health care system and paying more administration to support Indigenous health care instead of honouring and responsibility provided in my communities with staff resources and strategies they need to live happier lives. Mr. Speaker, I would have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements.
Colleagues, Julie Capot-Blanc was born on February 11th, 1966, to Napolean and Mary Capot-Blanc from Fort Nelson, BC. She was the sixth child of ten siblings. Julie grew up in Fort Nelson when the family eventually moved to the town of Fort Nelson in 1973. The family love to tell the story about when she was four years old. She would constantly cry after her older siblings when they would head off to school. After a bit of time, they got tired of it and her sister Violet decided that she would take Julie to school to stop her from crying. They did without registering her, but Julie loved it and she fit right in. This is how she started attending school.
Julie started visiting her sister in Fort Liard when she was about 15 years old. On one of her visits, she met Anthony, who turned out to be the love of her life. One time when they were hanging out with friends and her and Anthony started play-fighting. Julie pinned Anthony down and straddled him. Harry Fantasque said, Weh-ehh, we know she's going to be your wife, Anthony. A couple of years later, they ended up together and have been together since.
It was interesting that Anthony would not tell Julie this story until this summer. They had a good laugh and appreciated that Harry predicted their future!
I had the pleasure of getting to know Julie around 1996. Of those years, Julie held numerous jobs and sat on many committees that I worked with. In 2015, she found the job that was made for her. She became the government service officer for the community. I would like to share this story with you. As for her eulogy and some stories that are attached. I would like them to be deemed as read and printed in Hansard.
Julie cared about her job and always willing to go the extra mile, whether it was a road trip to an elder in a cabin or coming to another community to help. During the summer of 2023, she came to Fort Simpson and her and my CA helped the evacuees fill out the form so they would get help from the government. This was a typical of Julie.
Another of her passions was hand games. She started the Fort Liard Hand Games Society with her nephew AJ Capot-Blanc, Margaret Klondike, Tyrone Berreault, and later Robert Loe and Roslyn Firth. She loved to follow the hand games team, whether it was in person or through multiple phone calls to her nephew to see how they were doing.
Unfortunately, on September 4th, 2024, she passed away, leaving a big hole for her community, friends and community and family. She will be greatly missed by her husband Anthony, her daughter Charmain, her granddaughter and partner in crime Madison, and her entire family and numerous friends. Thank you, Julie, for everything while you were and all that you've given. May you now rest in peace forever. You were dearly loved and will be terribly missed.
At 17, Julie welcomed a beautiful baby girl (Charmain Capot-Blanc). Charmain was their pride and joy. They enjoyed raising and doing things together with her. I can tell you; she was very proud of her. She loved to share stories about them with me.
In December 2005 she became a grandmother to Madison Julia Mae. From the first time Madison came home, she adored her. Julie was lovingly called Nana, and she referred to Maddy as "my little partner". She did everything and anything she could possibly do to help Madison. She was beyond spoiled by Nana. Benny, her great-nephew, was spoiled by Julie. She made sure he had what he needed.
Julie loved to go out on the land and would tag along with Anthony on his many adventures. Her mother Mary's best memories are of going camping with her. They would camp at Old Fort, the Petitot River and along highway 77. However, going boating on the river to their cabin at Fishermen Lake, was her favorite place to be. She found peace out there. Last year Julie tanned her very first moosehide. She was extremely excited and so proud, even showing it off to the elders. She loved beading earrings and would often give them out.
Over the years Julie has held numerous jobs and sat on many committees. Here are a few more stories about her as a GSO:
Within the community, Julie ensured residents and particularly elders, receive seamless service from GNWT departments and partners. Her good nature and diligence were offered to every client that came to the office. She took great time and care to bring services and information to elders’ homes, cabins and where they lived, even if that meant on the highway. Julie did this often and kept regular check ins with her elders for many years and had a strong trusting relationship.
The Department of Executive developed a peer award program a few years back within Regional Operations to acknowledge team Members who lead with good values and service excellence. Julie has been recognized by her peers on numerous occasions for her support, excellence, and work ethic. The team will be acknowledging their cherished team member when describing the North STAR Award, which is the top award for serving elders, which Julie was nominated every year. She did everything with a smile and strong work ethic. She was a respected GNWT employee and Elder in her community and will be missed by her regional team and community.
Besides these passions, Julie was all about helping make the community of Fort Liard a better place to live. She was a hamlet and band councillor for the community. Residents of the community felt she was great at listening and assisting those in need of any services they required. She was about the people.
She was always available to anyone that needed a listening ear or a stern talking to (whether you wanted to hear it or not). She offered her help, support and advice when needed without any complaining. Julie had a big heart that was made of gold.
There were so many more fond memories of Julie to share but it'll turn into a novel, I'm sure. So, we ask you to think about your story with her, how you enjoyed that moment in time and fondly remember her.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me further privilege to recognize Maureen McKinnon, the teacher from the Colville Lake school who is escorting the pages Briley and his brother Mason. Welcome to the Assembly. Mahsi.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd first like to recognize Yellowknife North constituents Kate Hearn, whose birthday is today, and her husband Woody Stone. And I'd also like to recognize Yellowknife North constituents, if they're still here -- I can't even see -- Sheila Bassett-Kellett, former SAO of the city of Yellowknife, and Dave Kellett. Thank you.
Thank you. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to say I have two young pages in the House working with us today. Khalif Joseph and Junaid Mutoola are both residents of Yellowknife South. Thank you for being here.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mr. Speaker, I too would like to welcome Dave and Sheila Bassett-Kellett. Also Kate Hearn and her husband. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to recognize the -- I believe I can say the name properly. If not, I'm sure Hansard will say it correctly for me -- which is Araliya Fox. She's a Yellowknife Centre constituent, a student at William McDonald High School here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I must apologize to Ms. Hearn. I had the pleasure of working with her when she was in lands. So I greatly appreciate you being here today as well.
If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your chamber. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It is always nice to see people in the gallery, especially retired government workers.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just spoke about the health sustainability unit, and I think probably my questions are best directed towards the Premier on this one.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, can the Premier just reassure the public and reassure people watching that, you know, the sustainability unit is going to be looking at more than just service system cuts. If the Premier would like to share some more information about that on the record, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for letting me address this issue. So across Canada, health care services are strained. The North is no different. We hear all the time in this House, I hear from my own constituents, there's issues in the health care system. That's not news. That's nothing new. That's an acknowledgement that I want to make clear that I am making today.
One of the things we're doing to address these issues is the establishment of the health care system sustainability unit. Now, this is a unit that is positioned within my Department of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, so separate from the health care system, that is going to examine the health care system, look at what we are offering and how we're offering it, make a determination of what are the core services that we need to offer, so that we're in line and we can work towards this Assembly's priority of offering -- or ensuring residents have access to basic health care.
So this is not a unit to look at, okay, what's core and what can we get rid of. It's to look at what are the core services and how are we offering them and how can we ensure we're offering them in the best possible way. There could be instances where we are working at cross purposes in the system. When you have a system that is so large that it has so many employees that involves so many agreements with the Government of Canada, things can get missed. And we haven't had an opportunity to really focus on the system and really analyze it and see what we're doing. There have been attempts in the past. They've originated from within the system. And sometimes they just get absorbed into the daily work of the system. So this is to really look at what we're doing, how we're doing it, and how we can do it better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how will the system sustainability unit be using information like the 2020 Physician Workforce Plan, workforce planning in general, the letter from the NWTMA; how will they be using these documents to inform their work? There's been a lot of work done on system sustainability already by practitioners. How is the unit going to be taking advantage of this work that's already been done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the unit, it's not fully staffed up yet, but the staff members that they have have been pouring over all of these documents that the Member's referencing. A lot of work has been done. There's work that's been done 20 years ago that the staff are looking at. So we are really taking an approach that we don't need to start from scratch; a lot of work has been done. And even if there's, you know, letters from the medical association or things like that, those also offer insight into what issues we might want to focus on, so those documents are definitely being looked at as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for those answers, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how will the NWT Medical Association, the nurses’ union, other organizations like that be engaged and have input into the decisions being made by the health care sustainability unit?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we're looking at this system, we need to speak with those individuals who know it best. And so a dedicated email address has been set up for frontline workers, workers throughout the health care system, to be able to reach out to the health care system sustainability unit and provide their input. We don't want this to be a top down approach. We want to hear from everyone. And so steps have already been taken, submissions have already been received, and from what I understand there seems to be a bit of an uptick in those submissions given that it's rolled out for a little while now and things are moving along.
Thank you, Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that they've set up an email address. I think what I'd appreciate is kind of a reassurance that there's going to be fundamental inclusion in the decision-making by practitioners, by frontline staff. I noted the gap in my Member's statement of this happening in the health care system. It's not happening enough, this fundamental inclusion. So how is the health care system sustainability unit going to be including practitioner input into their decision-making beyond just an email address but maybe having physicians, nurses, representatives at the table? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'll have to get back to the Member with some specific details about what meetings they plan on holding but there -- as I mentioned, this is not something that we're doing alone. And this unit is not there to make decisions about how things are going to work. They're there to look at, examine, investigate the system, and bring forward recommendations for the decision-makers to be able to make decisions about how things work. And the best decisions are made with broad input. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and it's with respect to sort of a broader view of how to tackle some of the health and social services challenges. And, of course, first I'm concerned about, you know, is health too big? And that's not picking on anyone personally. It's a giant monolith. So.
Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister -- sorry, the Premier hands out portfolios per se, but would it help focus some of the challenges in by separating the portfolios so we could really deal with some of the robust challenges we've been raising and throwing towards the Ministers to say can you solve? Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife Centre, are you asking the Premier or are you asking the health Minister, because it kind of seems like you're asking the Premier a question.
No, I'm asking the Minister would it help so they could focus in on the challenges we have if we separated them. So would it help her do her job if health was a standing unit itself, health and social services separated. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, whether it's in one department or it's in two departments, we do have dedicated staff that deal with the health stream and then we have dedicated staff that deal with the social services. Like, we have a director of social services that kind of deals and falls under that. The majority of the -- you know, like, the -- is the operation stuff which amalgamates into NTHSSA. So the authority is -- oversees both those two areas. So if the -- you know, it's not -- it's not -- I would not make that decision alone. But I don't -- I don't see that it would, you know -- at this point, I don't see that it would make a difference because we do focus majority of our -- of my time is focused on the health portfolio -- on the health area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the -- what I would surely describe as a sincere answer on that question. It's a tough one to say hey, what do you think of dividing your portfolio to two. I think it was a fair answer.
Mr. Speaker, most hospitals or hospital types or authorities are run by people with PhDs, you know, and they come with the credentials of things known as public health administrators. Mr. Speaker, do we have that type of talent in the department of health overseeing the NTHSSA or even the Stanton hospital? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the decision to create the NTHSSA as one territorial health and social services came in 2016, long before my time, while I was still an employee within that -- the health area. The governance council structure at the time of the day, I even remember watching the Legislative Assembly, I remember hearing and seeing and talking with other people that were attending those meetings and the consultations to create the structure. The communities were very afraid that they would lose their voice on how health care and social services should be in their communities and as the government of the day decided that they would create the leadership council, the governing council, so that is the current -- the governing council of the NTHSSA. As to what their credentials are, I -- you know, they -- they're -- I don't have that in information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again, in my research and looking around hospitals across Canada -- I mean, I didn't look at every one, I want to be clear, I wouldn't want to give you that impression. Would the Minister acknowledge and recognize that being a public health administrator, typically a PhD of some sort, is a specialized skill when it comes to management of health authorities? Thank you.
