Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for Minister of Health and Social Services. My questions pertain to the Dental Profession Act. There are some phrases in this act which preclude Canadian dentists from recruiting students from universities outside of Canada for doing practicums, which would help in the provision of services, particularly here in the Northwest Territories. I’m going to ask the Minister about section 24(1) of this act that refers to “will provide dental services under the direct supervision of a licensee who is also employed by the Faculty of Dentistry of a Canadian University.” There are other accredited universities which are not Canadian, and I’d like to ask the Minister: how will we go about making this small but important change to the Dental Profession Act?
Thank you Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that information readily available. I’d be happy to look into that for the Member. My understanding is that for the dental profession, as well as other professions like physicians or nurses, we follow the guidelines and standards of other provinces with the credits with which the universities graduate these grads, so I’m not sure if we have it completely within our control to change our own laws to allow foreign trained dentists to come and practise. That’s one point that I am not aware of. So my understanding is that it’s not within our power, but I just want to look into that to confirm it. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I probably didn’t have enough detail to be very clear about my request. In a more general sense, what would be the most expedient way to make a minor adjustment to an act like this that would be of assistance to the dental profession in the Northwest Territories? What would be the process? Would it come from the department, or could it be raised by the Regular Members on this side of the House? Thank you.
If it is something that’s within our legislation, it’s obviously something that we could do right here. If that is so, I think we could consider that sort of amendment. My understanding is that there’s nothing we can do in our legislation that would change that, because for professionals like dentists, doctors, nurses, lawyers and engineers, their licensing requirements are controlled by their own profession. It’s not within the powers of the government to change those. That is my understanding. I need to confirm that, so we’ll get back to the Member on that.
Mr. Speaker, it’s my understanding that some American universities actually have exams and accreditation, which they ensure compliance with so that it is interchangeable between American or Canadian standards, and that they actually apply these tests and standards to students who are attending their universities in these professions. It opens up a vast pool of resources for us in terms of dental students or dentists.
Since professions regulate themselves, as the Minister has said, would a proposal from the NWT Dental Association aid in expediting such amendments?
This government is working on a territorial nomination program, which we hope will enhance and improve the services of overseas residents who could come to work and fill jobs that we cannot.
The second thing is that it may be possible, as the Member stated, that American university graduates could come and practise in the provinces. Now, there is a difference between provinces and territories in that provinces have their own professional organizations that determine who goes into these professions. We don’t have that in the Territories. All of our professional bodies rely on other provinces to admit our students.
Let me just make a commitment again to see what is possible. I have had the opportunity to talk to the department about this, because this question was raised. My understanding was that it’s not really in our power to change. Let me just get the details on why that’s so and what our options are. If it requires any recommendations from anybody to help that process, I’d be happy to do that.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dental Profession Act is an act of the Government of the Northwest Territories. In summary, what I think the dental profession of the Northwest Territories would like is to replace the words “Canadian university” with “accredited university,” and that would make a vast difference in terms of opening that up. That’s in summary. I would just ask the Minister, then, if she would take the initiative to consult with the dental association on this.
I will undertake to see if changing those words would help the process. I’ll consult with the necessary bodies and stakeholders and get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
