Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today, I want to talk about the child and youth counselling program that the Departments of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment have been jointly rolling out over the last few years.
Mr. Speaker, the child and youth counselling program was first announced in 2018 and, as of 2022, it has been fully rolled out across all regions of the NWT. The intent of this program was to provide a higher level of mental health supports for students and families across the NWT. And this was done by challenging the qualifications, the titles, and job descriptions for all school counsellors. And one of the actions with these changes was to hire new counselling staff throughout the NWT schools to ensure that all child and youth counsellors will have specific qualifications and consistent quality care for students.
Mr. Speaker, when this program was first introduced, I was supportive of its intent to bring a higher standard of mental health care to all students of the NWT; however, as this program was being rolled out in the South Slave in 20212022, there was some unintended consequences that create the opposite effect for the students in Fort Smith because, unfortunately, these new standards created barriers for a longtime student counsellor who worked at PWK High School.
Mr. Speaker, once the CYC program was introduced, Fort Smith's longtime student counsellor, who was born and raised in Fort Smith and is Indigenous, had lost her job because she did not have the new level of education that was required for the position. This change not only disrupted the livelihood of that employee, but it also disrupted the established relationships that she developed with both the students and the community alike. Despite her length of employment in the job and the strong desire and demand by the students to keep her there, it was decided by the government to let her go. After she left, it took a while for the position to be filled. But when it finally got filled, the new employee did not connect well with students resulting in reduced quality of mental health care for them for about a year. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Overall, Mr. Speaker, as these changes were carried out, I heard from many parents, educators, and students of their disapproval and disappointment regarding these changes. As a result, I spent considerable time talking to both the Ministers of education and health to try and retain the longtime student counsellor but regretfully were unable to do so. However, with the recent news of CYC undergoing an evaluation, I think there is potential to correct some wrongs and truly improve the level and quality of mental health care for students in the NWT. I will have questions for the health minister later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
