Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Minister. I know that we are supposed to be rolling out a very detailed cultural awareness campaign soon, and all of the GNWT staff are going to be there; but there is no course in the world that is going to change somebody who doesn't want to take it. That's the issue. These are the issues. Our people are still going to be afraid of the healthcare system, so they're not going to speak up; they're not going to advocate for themselves. I, again, just want to push the Minister to really look into these types of positions for our people in the Northwest...

Next time, I will make sure, when I'm treated badly, I'll call myself; and I did. Would the Minister consider a position in each of the hospitals or regional centres that would assist with being an advocate for patients who need help navigating the system? Because not everybody, when they come in from a small community, knows where to go, knows how to communicate, and they are afraid of the healthcare system. We do have history of not trusting the healthcare system in this country, Indigenous people.

Thank you. I am not painting everyone with the same brush. I know that not all staff are like this, but I am bringing this to this floor so that everyone out there can hear. People need to be responsible for their actions, and we need to hold them to account for that, even as co-workers. People, if you witness this happening in your workplace, this needs to be addressed. If it's happening to our residents, our residents need to feel safe to report it. The only way things will change is if we make the change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister's Statement 77-19(2), National Housing Co-Investment Fund; Tabled Document 165-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 1-19(2), Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery, Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 166-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 2-19(2), Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery, Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 167-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3-19(2), Report on Long-Term...

I call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Norn.

I hear the Minister, and I hear what she says. We do have great staff, but not necessarily are these staff trained to be able to understand a lot of the systems. This government assisted Aurora College to create a nursing program 20-plus years ago. We've had 20-plus years of graduates of nursing. The goal of that program was to have Indigenous nurses working in their own communities for their own people. It's still not happening.

I would like to ask the Minister again if we can have patient advocates and have them be nurses in these hospitals. If we can't have nurses in these hospitals, then...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have all heard of Brian Sinclair, Joyce Echaquan, and our own Hugh Pakik. These situations were caused by someone's opinion. Who advocates before it gets this serious? My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: What option does someone have immediately if they feel they are not getting the help they need or feel that they have been treated unfairly or with discrimination in the Health and Social Services Department, which includes the hospitals, clinics, health centres, and social services offices?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the morning of January 18, 2021, I read a CBC article with a video of a man crawling out of a southern emergency department and a nurse walking beside him, and it stated that she was saying, "You're a big boy. You're strong. Come on, big boy. Stand up." Only to find out later that he had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which was affecting him to walk. Mr. Pontone also a history of bipolar, so he felt that's why his concerns were dismissed.

It made me think of Hugh Pakik, an Aklavik elder who died of a stroke after being mistaken for being drunk. In the CBC article that I...

Thank you. The motion is in order to rise and report progress. All those in favour?

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to clarify that: So with the vaccine, if we do get the vaccine and we are at 75 percent vaccinated, the Minister will commit to negotiating a lot more opening up this summer? Because I feel that, like I said in my Member's statement, we are really going to lose some of our vital, important staff, especially outside of Yellowknife. It is come to Inuvik. You came to Inuvik. The Premier came to Inuvik. There is nothing open there. There is nothing going on there. There is no social life. There is nothing that is keeping people. Even the youth are having mental health...