Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, dental services in the Northwest Territories is very different depending on where you live. It also depends on what dental coverage you have. For example, if you work for a business with benefits or with the GNWT, you get dental insurance to cover you and your family. If you're a First Nations and hold a status card or if you're Inuit and registered with your Inuit organization, you are covered under noninsured health benefits. If you're a Metis Indigenous to the NWT and living in the NWT, then you're covered by the GNWT program Metis benefits which is equivalent to NIHB. But, Mr. Speaker, if you're nonIndigenous and you have no dental coverage, it's at your own cost. But recently the federal government has made a program where you can apply to Canada for the Interim Canada Dental Benefit for families earning less than $90,000 a year. Although this is great, again, this is Ottawa doing a great thing, but not realizing the struggles that we have in the North, this doesn't cover travel to the nearest dentist, especially when you have no dentist or dental services in your community.
Mr. Speaker, years ago most schools all had dental therapists or regional dental therapists that travelled to the communities and that was the main dental prevention provider outside the capital and some regional centres that had private clinics. I'm very glad that they were there because I still have my teeth thanks to them.
Mr. Speaker, even before COVID, dental prevention has been a struggle in the Northwest Territories. And since COVID, dental services have been nonexistent in many communities. Mr. Speaker, we as a government need to do better in dental prevention services. We need to be working closely with the federal government. We need to come up with a better plan to provide these basic services, especially to all our children, youth, and adults in the NWT. And I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
