Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It’s in regard to the words “essential services,” and I think, more importantly, what are we doing to fill the gap between the have and have-not communities when it comes to programs and services such as health care, education and, more importantly, those positions that we depend on such as the nurses, the social workers and also looking at the clientele such as mental health workers to assist the communities with alcohol and drug programs, because those services make a difference to our communities. So I’d like to ask the Minister exactly what is the government doing to ensure that we do have these programs and services in all the communities in the Northwest Territories to make sure that these essential services are being delivered.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the Member’s concerns about some of the gaps in services. We have worked to bring back some of the mental health worker positions in Fort McPherson. We’re doing a pilot project in Fort McPherson, but we are also engaged in looking at the overall system to make sure that we have strengthened services available in the communities. In the coming weeks I will be working with the Member to close some of the gaps, especially in the Beaufort-Delta region where we are seeing some harder challenges. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we have a very vast Territory, but we also have 33 communities. I think, as a government, we have to find unique ways to deal with the rural and remote communities. This has been an issue since as long as I’ve been here for 15 years. I believe that we have to find mechanisms that may not be able to fit all communities, especially with the challenges we face. So I’d like to ask the Minister if she’s more than willing to consider looking at ensuring that we have dedicated nurses or dedicated social workers to ensure that they do spend the time in our communities, and it’s not simply a rotation system, so that the residents can take the time to basically familiarize themselves with the service providers but also having them dedicated to those communities. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Foundation for Change Action Plan is designed to look at our system to see how we can make structural changes in order that we can enhance our level of care and services in small communities. That work is not complete. We have just introduced that. We are working to bring back to the Members across to see what kind of changes we need to make so that we can strengthen the services in areas that the Member is talking about.
The Member is right; we face a number of challenges demographically, in terms of location, in terms of shortage of health professionals, but I agree with the Member that our people expect to have a certain level of services, and we need to work together to make sure that that can happen. I will be coming forward with a plan to review with the Members on the other side. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that we can study this thing but I don’t think the communities want to wait that long. I think, in the meantime, there are workable solutions here and one of them I mentioned earlier is that we have dedicated staff either from the regional centres, the adjacent communities, and dedicate them to those communities that don’t have a full slate of service providers such as nurses, social workers or even people in regard to mental health and alcohol and drug workers. So I’d just like to ask the Minister, can she direct the health authorities that they have dedicated nursing professionals or people in that profession, dedicated to those communities so that they can have people that will be obligated to work with those communities to provide those essential services and, more importantly, do it immediately. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am willing to work on a plan to bring to the Members to consider that. Mr. Speaker, in order for us to have dedicated essential services in the communities, I believe we need to look at changing the way our health delivery system is set up and look at whether we need to change the administrative system we have, which is by boards and they get block funding and, as it is set up right now, the boards decide how those resources are going to be allocated. In order for us to do it differently, we need to look at changing that and that’s part of consideration that we are engaged in in the department. I will move on that as quickly as possible and I will work with the Members to see how we move that forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that we do have a situation with the health boards. I think we’ve given them too much authority and yet as a Minister you don’t have much authority. So I think in order to get by that, can you give a ministerial directive to those health authorities that they find the essential and professional staff, dedicate them to those communities that require them or should be in those communities so that we can resolve this situation by ministerial directive?
Right now the authorities are set up as a board of management and they do have independent power and authority to use the money from within. So the Member knows that in terms of the mental health worker, I did issue a directive and we were able to correct that. With the health and social services staffing, under the current system it’s not as easily done. That’s why I’m committing with the Member that we will look at how we could change the way we are delivering the service so that we could work at looking at what each community has in terms of essential services. If we’re willing to come up with a formula for essential services, we need to discuss that as a part of the next business plan. I will commit to the Members that I will bring forward a plan that we can discuss so that we could have a debate on this in a detailed fashion with something solid in front of us. We are working on that, but we are not done yet, but we will do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
