Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I talk, my spectacles get fogged up because of the mask, so. So just with extended health benefits, if somebody else has other coverage they may be qualified, you know, through work or some other benefit. The extended health benefit is the payer of last resort. That is the policy. Therefore, residents have to claim through their first -- the first plan, and then if it's not all covered, then Alberta Blue Cross will pick up the difference up to the eligible amount. And if this is not happening, then we need to discuss this with Alberta Blue Cross because the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I'm going to highlight -- and I'm going to continue to highlight the community wellness and addiction recovery fund as well as the suicide prevention fund that each community regional government can apply on up to $72,000 a year. I think the regional wellness and addiction recovery is up to $300,000 plus a year. Those dollars could be used to -- if it's part of their wellness in their community to enhance -- to hire somebody to work with youth, to do recreational programming, that is -- that's the flexibility of these two pots of funding, is to be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, with the work that's ongoing in the next, you know, little while, I think that the last employment engagement satisfactory survey that was done from staff that is done every two years, that will be a tool that is measured. But I also -- you know, I think that one of the areas is all managers and staff have to take ownership of making sure that they're bringing their concerns forward. And this is something that I've said in the town halls with staff is that if they're -- you know, if they're bringing the issues forward and they're not being heard...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT maintains a dedicated elder abuse web page on getting help for elders' abuse. I would be happy to send these links and pages to the Member or all MLAs. People can also phone the NWT Senior's Society information line for relevant information. People can also call 811. And if it's an emergency, 911. And, you know, I -- Mr. Speaker, I think it takes all of us to, you know, to be keeping aware of our elders in our community, you know, educating, you know, youth, advising our seniors in our community when we witness the abuse. We know that we find...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2020, Statistics Canada reported that the NWT had the highest rate of police reported family and nonfamily violence against seniors in Canada. Unfortunately, Stats Canada stopped breaking out statistics of family violence against seniors and so we're unable to provide more up-to-date statistics. The GNWT is currently not able to track rates of elder abuse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as of right now, the work that's happening with the regulations under the Health and Social Services Admin Act which oversees the professional specific regulations, the regulations that's been working on right now are the midwives, the pharmacists, the dental hygienists, and the social workers. And all that work is in conjunction with the updating, and the LP will be coming forward in the winter of 2025. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Larga boarding home, as is the Keskorie, are both RFPs, so that people that are travelling for medical travel, if they're coming to Yellowknife from any of the communities, they stay at Keskorie. There is no fees. There is no -- they don't get per diems. They get meals while they're there. They get a room. If there's no room, then they'd be put into a hotel, their meals are provided to them. If they're in Edmonton and they stay at Larga, that is the RFP that we have. It is a hotel in Leduc. There is transportation provided to and from the appointments...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I had mentioned in this House, you know, the PA is working with the leadership of NTHSSA right now. But when I mentioned about the town halls, those town halls and bringing those concerns forward, there are internal actions for each of those COOs to go back to their staff to work through some of those issues that were brought forward. So I know that we've only -- like I said, mentioned, we've only done two or three of three different regions now, and we have the rest of the regions to go there. And I encourage those staff to come out and voice their --...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has stated, you know, this is not something that comes to a surprise to this House. We've heard it on the floor many, many times. It is in the mandate of the public administrator to ensure that the NTHSSA is dealing with this morale issue. I also took it upon myself, and now accompanying with me within the NTHSSA, the PA attends all of the -- along with the CEO and the COOs of the region, we have completed -- sorry, we've completed TCSA. We've completed Stanton. We've completed Fort Smith. We have a whole stretch of regions that we'll be doing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, older adults facing abuse can access the same support services that other adult victims of crime use. This includes victim services, court orders, emergency shelters, counselling, help lines, legal support. Older adults may not recognize these services are available to them which is why the 2024 Seniors' Society Handbook includes information about elder abuse, warning signs, where to seek help. This handbook was distributed in the summer of 2024 and is also available online. Additional work undertaken by the department includes a territorial-wide elder...