Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have vacancies in Hay River and Fort Smith. You know, when we look at midwifery and if we're looking at expanding those students, I mean there's jobs throughout the territory that are not always in Yellowknife and they're not always in Inuvik and they're not always in Hay River. And if those are the two areas that we want to train in, sometimes we have to go and move to where those are. And midwifery -- you know, when I look at midwifery, I do support midwifery because I do support it to be there in those communities that don't have any birthing services. So...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have one.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, all of the above. I think the way that it's supposed to -- I guess the intent of that program is is that the Indigenous governments will support the workers that work there. Housing will -- you know, there will be a housing building or Infrastructure will maintain it, and we will provide services as needed as, you know, required by -- through our partnership with that Indigenous that will be running the program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, just to the first part of the Member's question is x-ray machines maintained. All the x-ray machines are maintained by our biomed and they are -- like, they're all maintained in the communities.

And to the next question, the on-the-land program, health is not running those types of programs. What the Indigenous governments have told us is that to make the funds available and more flexible for them, and so that's where the community wellness and addiction recovery fund it. And so that's where Indigenous governments from the communities can apply to access...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department of health is very active on social media. I mean, it came to my attention that tomorrow is World No Smoking Day through the health and social services media campaign. So as for the information how it relates to youth, the youth are on so many different media platforms so I can't be -- I'm not familiar as to what platforms that they're targeting, but I know that it is on social media and, you know, we can be reaching out to all the schools to ensure that, you know, with The Dope Experience, that campaign, that covers all different areas that is being...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, midwifery began in Fort Smith, and midwifery in Fort Smith began with two midwives. And those two midwives did the majority of the births and if not all the births in Fort Smith, and ran the only midwifery program in the Northwest Territories. I don't have exact dates but we have expanded that program over the years. So midwifery expansion happened in Fort Smith to an additional nurse. Then it expanded into Hay River. And currently, they have expanded from Hay River into supporting Fort Resolution, Deninu Kue, and the Metis of that community. As of right now...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess each region -- so I know in the Beaufort Delta, the physicians are scheduled to travel from -- like, if they're hired as indeterminate doctors in the Beaufort Delta or locums to fill the vacancies, they are all scheduled to -- each community has its scheduled allotment of visits per month and those doctors will service those communities. The same thing in the south. There's different models for different areas. I mean, if you want more detail I can pass it on to the deputy minister to describe the south of the -- and there's the doctors from Yellowknife that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is -- yes, it is under this department and it is under the -- sorry, under the other community wellness and addiction recovery. So the new initiatives transition housing and addiction recovery, there's $1.417 million right there. And the role of the department's going to be in that is -- this is a collaboration between housing and Infrastructure as well as partnering with an Indigenous partner, and we are there to be the -- to support the program in our capacity. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, at this time I won't commit to that because what I am committed to is -- in the business plan is taking a look at the medical travel and how we move people around is going to -- you know, I'm hoping we'll be able to -- I guess what I want to do is I want to implement, by the end of this government, a better way to move people, a way to make sure that when people have medical travel -- and this is -- you know, are not as stressed about getting the medical travel as they are about having to go to the appointment that they're going for. You know, and I think we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to congratulate the Member on his 11 weeks of not smoking. As we know that smoking is -- yes, as the Member has mentioned, and there are a number of things that we have available for NWT residents who want to quit smoking. There is now -- we have merged the NWT Quit Line to 8-1-1, so it makes it a lot easier. The Help Line and the Quit Line have been merged together so you just have to call 8-1-1, residents who want to quit smoking or vaping, from any community in Northwest Territories, can speak to a registered nurse and trained support to help them on their...