Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the concern for residents in Lutselk’e and the lack of culturally sensitive professional counselling services.
Currently there are no professional counselling services readily accessible in the community, and there haven’t been since 2006. The agency responsible for providing these and other health and social services is the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority.
The Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority is doing a good job providing these important services, particularly when there is staff turnover, and that is a constant problem. However, when residents are in need of professional mental health services, there have been some problems in accessing those specialized services. This is due in part to another problem dealing with professionals.
Mr. Speaker, because many of these positions require some kind of professional designation and are highly technical in nature, these individuals are highly educated, non-native people from the south. Residents have complained that when they need these mental health professionals, they are not able to effectively communicate with them because of what they refer to as cultural insensitivity on behalf of the professionals.
The residents are trying to express important family social information for the professional, but with limited education. In many cases even with limited knowledge of the English language it is difficult to accurately convey their concerns and their needs. More often than not, they feel they are being dismissed as having a bad day, and they are left at the end of the day not getting the needed professional counselling they desire. As a result of this, they get frustrated and stop seeking assistance from these individuals.
Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, there have been three suicides in the community of Lutselk’e within the last 24 months, the most recent a couple of weeks ago. These incidents are a tragedy to the whole community. Recently a constituent told me....
Mr. Beaulieu, your time for your Member’s statement is expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Recently a constituent told me that there are many other young people in the community that are in desperate need of proper counselling. This is a very serious concern for the community of Lutselk’e. I can understand the challenges our government is facing, working in these times of fiscal restraint, but when you have three suicides in the span of 24 months in a community of under 400, we need to review the programs and services that are being delivered, in areas such as effective cross-cultural training for our front-line staff in these communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
