Lesa Semmler

Yes, you know, I -- as the Minister, you know, I have met with the unit. I have -- we have actually done a presentation to standing committee. You know, if the Member wants me to meet with him and if he wants to invite me to meet with him and the Dene Nation together to hear from them on what their thoughts are, you know I would be more than glad to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the structure, we do have a CEO that oversees the NTHSSA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I did ask the NTHSSA to -- early when we -- you know, with the pressures that we were hearing of hotel rooms being full all the time, you know, that is impacting insured service patients that are flying down for doctors appointments because dental and everybody is flying into the capital, I did ask them to look at other options. That is currently being looked in right now. But clients who are NIHB can also work with NIHB directly if they can find appointments closer to home that's not here. And like I mentioned, in the Beaufort Delta a lot of our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the cohort of numbers are very low and they're specific to each -- like, the communities are so small, I am -- at this point, I'm not aware of how many of the residents that the Member is talking about have completed testing. And if there were any, you know, those are health -- private health medical records, and so that -- you know, I wouldn't be able to discuss those here freely on the floor of the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what will happen is the current staff will transition into the new building. There hasn't been any planning on new staff, but what I will say is that we are in the process -- in the early processes of looking at our health centres and the model of how we provide health services in our communities, in our small communities and so, you know, that's going to take some time and analysis to look through because, you know, what happens in some small communities is not the same in the other. Some communities are bigger. So at this point, no. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Community Wellness and Recovery Fund, there has been $573,000 to the Deh Cho First Nation which include -- including in that is KFN. The amount -- yes, so split between those two. And then there's the Community Suicide Prevention Fund which there's another additional $185,206 to Chief Sunrise, K'atlodeeche First Nation, DFFN. So all together, those three groups and KFN received $185,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm really glad that the Member has asked that because that has been asked in this House over and over and over again many times. The rates are to make things equitable in the territory. So the rates fall in line with all of our policies. Some of our policies that are federally funded, and we try to match what those rates are so that it's equitable across all residents with that. And, yes, times have changed, things cost more. That is in the review process. The one thing that I would like to highlight is if we -- you know, that's a decision that will have to be made...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community counselling program provides mental health supports to all residents in the Northwest Territories, including children and youth. They also help facilitate referrals to more specialized service, including access to facility-based treatment. There's also, again, like I mentioned just previously, the Community Wellness and Addiction Recovery Fund that is something that the government does provide a fund so Indigenous groups can access to create their own community-based, on the land, cultural, Indigenous-based programming within their community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before that, you know, we are -- as this whole year I've been working with the governing council and working with the Members, hearing from the Members, hearing from the public. It's not that I -- you know, it's -- I don't sit here on having deaf ears. I know that there are real issues within our health care system. You know, there are real issues that people are sicker and that we need serious -- and so I hear the Members. And, yes, there are things that we are looking into. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.