Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked about the traditional foods at the health facilities in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, other than the Aboriginal Wellness Program, the Stanton Elders Council, are there any types of discussions happening to increase the amount of Aboriginal foods that are served at the Stanton Territorial Hospital and possibly at the Aven Manor?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Our environmental health unit has, in the past, worked with the various institutions that are run by Health and Social Services or the authorities to try to get traditional foods into these homes. In addition to that, recently the Member has brought to our attention that perhaps we should start looking at institutions that are under our authority that already are providing traditional foods on a regular basis and start working with them to see if they can expand the traditional food by delivering it to other institutions in town where traditional foods are not usually served on a regular basis.
Thank you. Certainly, the Minister is correct of our discussion. I want to ask the Minister, is that something that could be within this fiscal framework, to look at the various solutions to increase the Aboriginal foods, say, at Aven Manor? I understand they serve traditional foods only twice a month and at the Stanton Hospital they serve traditional foods every Friday at lunchtime. At Stanton Hospital, the last report indicated 65 percent of patients were Aboriginal people. So I want to ask if the Minister would look at some of these types of solutions to help our elders and our Aboriginal people in these health facilities to get their traditional foods.
Like I had indicated, we are now reaching out to the organizations. Immediately after my conversation with the Member, I had asked the department to talk to the two organizations that he is referring to. We have done that. All we need to do is find the various ways within our policies on traditional foods, the various ways we can legally provide traditional foods in that type of institution. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’m looking for a commitment from the Minister of Health and Social Services to direct his department within the next couple of months. I’m looking forward to seeing some type of policy, a direction, where this is going to happen. Can the Minister give that commitment to me?
Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to look at the requirements of handling uninspected wild fish and game. This is really the key issue, is how traditional food is brought into these residences for long-term care, hospital or any residential type of facility where there is a requirement to serve food. We have to discuss an effective and consistent way of getting uninspected wild fish and game into those places as part of the menu. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
That’s what I said in my Member’s statement. How do we try to regulate something that is just common sense in our small communities? We should see some of the places where we store our food and wonder, gee, it must be quite the challenge to cook it up.
What makes something that is common sense in our small communities so unexplainable when it comes to our health centres? Why do we have to go through all these processes? How can the Minister help me with the existing facilities we have now so Aboriginal people and elders can get their traditional foods in these facilities?
Mr. Speaker, the Food Establishment Safety Regulations under the Public Health Act lay out what we can do legally when we provide traditional food into the long-term care centres or the hospitals. One way that we are thinking about getting around that specific issue is that because fish and game can be donated by individuals that have a general hunting licence or individuals that have the right to hunt and donate food. A lot of that has been done at the Vital Abel where they are serving traditional food, and the Member talks about how we would be able to work with the Vital Abel to provide food at Avens and the hospital, as an example. Considering that we do have contracts with those individuals, as well, we had to talk to all of them to make sure that we’re not trying to offload work on somebody without having that discussion first. I can assure the Member that we’re moving forward with this and that we’re trying to find a solution. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
