Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I will repeat myself that we are looking at all the options. I will not put a nurse in front of patients unless we know that this 1,125 hours if it's not necessary, then I'll look at it if it's not necessary. But I don't have the full picture right now so I can't make that decision on the floor here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'll give credit where it's due. Thank you to the Member for raising this issue and continuing to raise this issue.

I've actually had conversations with my department on this. I've had conversation was the Minister of ECE who deals with immigration. We are actually scheduling a meeting with CAN to go over a lot of the things that are under the International Educated Nurses and so we could fully understand what is needed in there. And I'll you know, I understand that this 1,125 hours is here. And one of the things with this is right now where we are as a territory is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I commit to is if he invites me to a constituency meeting, I can attend a constituency meeting, as we do as Ministers who any Members that request one. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that this question came up in the last sitting, and there's things that the department is doing. I know within the NTHSSA, you know, they're doing a lot of communicating with the staff. The level of the communication that is required, I am not familiar of where they are and what is needed and so but then the other areas, you know, they've run a lot of different areas where they could support the morale and even to get staff in. I have a whole list of all of that stuff. I've said it in the House before, but I'd have to get back to the Member with all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to answer the Member's question, no. But, you know, I think where we are and the service that it's going to provide, you know, we'd always consider all of the different options that are out there. But no, we haven't. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll keep this one. And thank you to the Member. I think this project has been discussed in our community for, as he mentioned, way back from 2015. And I know in 2020, there was a reevaluation of longterm care beds needs, and one of the impact that happened was that we as a government wanted to put more investment into seniors aging in place with dignity. So that means supporting seniors in their homes as long as they can and not and moving away from these centralized areas where we would end up having to send them. So what the current plan is right now is we just I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, Ontario, Alberta, they have bridging programs, they have mentors, they have staff that will support new grads. We can't even like, that's one of the things in the Northwest Territories. One of the things in my past management job is new grads. We have to find ways for new grads to be mentored into the workforce. When the nurses come out of school, some of them don't have the experience. They have a lot of theory. You know, there's many different things in play. It's not about just getting a license. It's about getting a license and being put into...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the Member. And, you know, when we talk about doctors, doctors have mentors. They have programs in place to mentor new doctors. They have residency programs within the territory as well. So with this issue, you know, like I said, I will be getting more information. We will be getting with CAN. We will be discussing this. I am going along with my colleague as well so that we can make sure that we have a full understanding of what it is and what needs to happen for here in the Northwest Territories. At the end of the day, it's making sure that everybody...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I hear the Member, and I know what the nurses get when they come onto shift. As a past nurse, I got shift report. The focus of the frontline nurse is to take care of their patients. You know, but they also need to know what the bigger picture is and that is what my understanding of the weekly emails and the manager's emails that are going to the staff, and if there's more information that they're requiring to do their job to take care of the frontline you know, to take care of the residents, you know, I'm always willing to bring that feedback...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every single time I meet with my DM or with the CEOs of the health authorities or the chair, the constant conversation is how are we supporting our staff. And so one of the things that, you know, I hear, you know, that they're not seeing their managers enough. The managers, you know, are tied up doing a lot of the stuff that they need to be doing with hiring and all of this other stuff. And so, you know, I think one of the things that I would like to do is, you know, the Member has invited me to a constituency meeting, you know, and, you know, I think as...