Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know, I don't know, I try to temper my enthusiasm but it's hard. So excited. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. And I'm sure it will be no surprise I'm going to ask a question regarding the nursing association and the fact that they put that obstructive wall of 1,125 hours in front of an internationally trained competent nurse, who could practice any day of the week here, any day, and they've been approved in Ontario and in Alberta but yet there seems to be some bottleneck about saying you cannot get a license in the Northwest Territories unless you already have practically six months of experience elsewhere, which is a shame.
Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is is what is she doing about this to solve this gatekeeper problem that's restricting people who want to live and invest in the Northwest Territories, grow their families, by being refused the opportunity to practice here? Because if they leave, they're not probably going to come back. Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'll give credit where it's due. Thank you to the Member for raising this issue and continuing to raise this issue.
I've actually had conversations with my department on this. I've had conversation was the Minister of ECE who deals with immigration. We are actually scheduling a meeting with CAN to go over a lot of the things that are under the International Educated Nurses and so we could fully understand what is needed in there. And I'll you know, I understand that this 1,125 hours is here. And one of the things with this is right now where we are as a territory is we are not Ontario. We are we are a small 40,000 population. And if an international educated nurse goes into Ontario, they have bridging programs, they have mentors, they have stable more stable workforce. Here in the Northwest Territories, we just talked about morale, we talked about burnout, we talked about all of these things that we're putting on our nurses that are here working. We have nurses that are here mentoring our Aurora College nursing students. And so we have to look at this, and we have to figure this out and how we can support it. So I'll just leave it there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister acknowledging we're not Ontario. But if Ontario can you can submit your application in the morning and have it licensed by the afternoon, I mean, maybe that doesn't fit us. That said, Alberta does. And we often look to Alberta as the option or similarities as to where we do. And the last point I'll make, Mr. Speaker, is I can't imagine a doctor being told go find 1,125 Canadian hours, even though you qualify everywhere in Canada but here, and then come back when you're ready. So we've refused them. It's about standard of fairness, Mr. Speaker.
So my question back to it is the department has relinquished some of its authority under Bill 77 under the last government. That said, what directive can you send to the nursing association to eliminate this useless barrier that doesn't treat people fairly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the Member. And, you know, when we talk about doctors, doctors have mentors. They have programs in place to mentor new doctors. They have residency programs within the territory as well. So with this issue, you know, like I said, I will be getting more information. We will be getting with CAN. We will be discussing this. I am going along with my colleague as well so that we can make sure that we have a full understanding of what it is and what needs to happen for here in the Northwest Territories. At the end of the day, it's making sure that everybody that's working in our area in the health field and not saying that the people that are waiting to fall into this group of people that want to work in the Northwest Territories but, you know, that everything is met before we have them taking care of our residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Minister, are you committed to see the elimination of this policy; this unbiassed, unfair, and unreasonable policy, because we're talking about our friends, our neighbours, our community is suffering and hurting more because we cannot allow these people in. Is the Minister committed to the elimination of that policy?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I will repeat myself that we are looking at all the options. I will not put a nurse in front of patients unless we know that this 1,125 hours if it's not necessary, then I'll look at it if it's not necessary. But I don't have the full picture right now so I can't make that decision on the floor here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, competency isn't the question here. So when you say I don't want to put a nurse in front of anybody who is not able to, no one here wants that. So let's make sure that's clear. If Alberta finds them competent skill wise, their international skills, whether they trained in the UK, India, Australia, United States, and they're supported in Alberta and Ontario, they must be okay by their standards. Can we not mirror their process because their competencies say yes?
Mr. Speaker, my question is this isn't a competency issue. This is they can be qualified anywhere else, but the Northwest Territories based on their screening. Why can't we mirror that? If they're approved elsewhere, approve them here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, Ontario, Alberta, they have bridging programs, they have mentors, they have staff that will support new grads. We can't even like, that's one of the things in the Northwest Territories. One of the things in my past management job is new grads. We have to find ways for new grads to be mentored into the workforce. When the nurses come out of school, some of them don't have the experience. They have a lot of theory. You know, there's many different things in play. It's not about just getting a license. It's about getting a license and being put into the system. And we are looking at it, and that's where I'll end. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Colleagues, time is up for oral questions. And on that note, we'll have a Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item number 9 on the orders of the day, oral questions.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Member from Frame Lake has asked for unanimous consent to come back to number 9 on the orders. Any nays?
Nay has been said, so we will not be moving.
So we will have a brief recess, and we'll come back and finish the day.
BRIEF RECESS
