Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was asking questions of the Minister of Health about regional wellness councils, and I would like to follow up on some more questions here today. There seems to be some confusion about the NWT Health and Social Services board and regional wellness councils and trying to get information, so can the Minister explain what is the role of both regional councils and NWT Health and Social Services to provide information to MLAs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, there is no role for the members of the regional wellness councils to provide information to MLAs. The regional wellness council members exist to provide input and guidance on the delivery of services at authority level, and they provide that information both directly at regional level but also through the leadership council up to the board. I do, however, encourage engagement among MLAs, community members, and regional wellness councils, given the shared commitment to improving health and social services in the Northwest Territories, but the regional wellness councils do not report to MLAs.
Having said that, I think the Member is aware that we have a protocol established within this Assembly that, if he or any Member has questions related to health and social services, those questions should be directed to the Minister and the Minister will respond within five days where appropriate and possible.
I appreciate that answer from the Minister. I am well aware of that process, but I am trying to get that information out there and understand the roles and that. So the Minister said that we go through the department to get the information through him, and the standard timeline is five days, so why does it take longer than that in some cases?
Mr. Speaker, there is no such thing as black and white in many of the things that we do. Many of the questions that come to me from MLAs are very complex in nature and require expertise at the front-line level, which requires us to go through our staff to the deputy minister's staff, to the authority's staff, to the front-line providers who are the ones who can provide us with that information. I do my best to endeavour to provide the MLAs with indication if answers are going to take longer than the standard five days, but in some situations, given the complexity and scope of the questions being asked, of course they take longer than five business days.
I thank the Minister for that answer. Yes, I understand it takes longer than five days, so I am just going to give you a scenario. I asked a similar question that a regional council asked, and I was advised that I have to wait until the regional council gets this information. It's more than 30 days. It's a meeting that is going to happen in the springtime. So can he please explain to me why that information has to be shared with the regional council before coming to us?
I would strongly encourage the Member to check his e-mails again because I do believe I followed up on that when he raised these concerns. Our intention is not to wait to provide that information to the regional wellness council first. Our intention is to get that information available to both parties who ask, which are MLA and regional wellness council, they both asked the same information, but to get to the information as soon as we can. However, at the same time, Mr. Speaker, I am strongly encouraging the Member to attend the next regional wellness council, where staff from the department will be coming to provide a comprehensive presentation which will likely be far more involved and encompassing than a written response. So, no, Mr. Speaker, we are not intending to wait 30 days to get him the information. We will get it to him as soon as is possible, but we do encourage him to attend the regional wellness council so that he can partake in a much broader discussion.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will actually table the response from the Minister. It did say longer than 30 days. I will table the whole discussion there. Mr. Speaker, so the Minister is inviting me to this meeting. I greatly appreciate it, but the regional council has asked: will the Minister attend that same meeting so that he can explain everything to them, as well? So I appreciate his invitation. I gladly accept it if it fits into my schedule, but I am hoping the Minister will be able to attend that meeting, as well, so that he can hear the regional council's concerns, as well.
I love the Member's passion on this file. This is a file that I have some passion for, as well. I do encourage Members to attend regional wellness council meetings. They are public. Anybody can attend them, and there are usually great discussions to these. So, please, all Members, attend your regional wellness council meetings.
Mr. Speaker, I did attend a meeting with the leadership council in the spring, and the leadership council did express some concerns with how information is flowing to and from regional councils. At that time, I committed to the chairs that I would attend each of the regional wellness council meetings in each region, so at least one in each region, to have an opportunity to have those very discussions with the regional wellness council members. So far, I have been able to attend two. One of them had to be by telephone. I am not going to promise to attend that one meeting, because I do have a very full schedule, but I have made that commitment to all the regional wellness councils and I will live up to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
