Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would only be -- as I said before, what we are focused on are currently bringing in regulated professionals under the Health Professions Act at this time, and so that would be -- you know, at this time I'm not going to be considering that, but it's something that we can discuss further in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He'd have to be more clear when my response of what -- which part of my -- that I said "should". Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as this -- the people strategy is to be released, as I get the fulsome -- you know, I had the highlights of it early on before it was being drafted. So as soon as I have the people strategy draft, and I'm more than willing to send, you know, as soon as I have it, to standing committee on social development to be able to, you know, have a conversation with them of what's in that document. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a conversation that I've been having with my staff and, you know, what happens across Canada, there are some jurisdictions that do have this, you know, and then there are areas that they -- you know, there might be some difference that they don't -- you know, they don't put it out on -- in public, so we don't have that access to the information. But what I can commit to is that looking at -- and I don't want to do a broad across the board, but what I would commit to is working with my staff to figure out in some of our higher priority areas...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to assure NWT residents that health care services for transgender individuals, including children and youth, will continue to be available within our health system. If the Northwest Territories clinical experts in transgender care cannot meet the needs of the residents, a referral can be made to an out-of-territory practitioner. What I have taken -- steps I've taken is to ensure that concrete steps to a safeguard access for NWT residents are put in place. I have directed my department to secure alternate out-of-territory care pathways for...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: The Structured Decision-Making System for Child Protection Policy and Procedures Manual, and Additional Information for Return to Written Question 14-20(1): Operating Room Activities for Stanton Territorial Hospital. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And sorry, yes, it does say "should", and that means that we encourage all our staff. And, like, there are different ways that they can, under their -- like, with their -- the difference pieces in Canada, the Canadian association, some can register through that, but then there are some social workers that are professional counsellors and so they would be under the Health and Social Services Profession Act. So there are some clinical counsellors that are being regulated under Health Professions Act, and that being social workers, but if they're not social workers and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time our efforts are being currently focused on bringing current regulated professionals under the Health Professions Act so not -- we are not considering counsellors and psychotherapists at this time. Psychologists are being brought under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. However, this is not an issue specific to the Northwest Territories. From the information that -- you know, that I've gotten from my team is that nationally there is a consistent -- there is not one consistent approach to regulating counsellors; however, for our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I appreciate the work that the frontline staff have been raising and, you know, we are hearing them. Again, I -- you know, I want to acknowledge that our system and our processes aren't as fast as they want them to be. And so we do hear you. We have plans in place. With this, you know, I'll take -- like I said, I will take this back with the department and with NTHSSA, because that's our operating arm, and look at, you know, what we have across -- you know, and then, you know, the feedback from the staff can be that, you know, when we look at -- and I'll just...

Mr. Speaker, yes, but I'd like to explain a little bit more. So we are already -- we have an established working relationship with the Northern Mosaic Network. They helped draft the Northwest Territories guidelines in 2020 and in April 2024, representatives from ECE met with Northern Mosaic Network to discuss and review an update of those guidelines which will incorporate new research that they're conducting with the University of Manitoba. And we look forward to seeing the recommendations that come from this work, and I am fully committed to continuing our collaboration. Thank you, Mr...