Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be related to, or taking up where I left off on my Member's statement, with respect to midwifery.
Mr. Speaker, I was enjoying a good read. It's not a good read in the context of happiness, but it is a good report regarding the reclaiming power in place. It's the final report of the MMIWG. And I happened to notice a familiar name, Ms. Lesa Semmler in there. So I'm sure she's very familiar with the report. So specifically, I want to point to the page, without going into context, is it talks about the teachings of midwifery and postnatal care of women and children.
So that said, Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Health and Social Services is, how is the Minister meeting that objective of supporting midwifery in the Northwest Territories in line with the statement that ties to the report which also ties to the mandate which also ties to the business plan of the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm so glad that the Member, you know, in his Member's statement agrees with a lot of the things that I also agree with. And midwifery is near and dear to my heart. So one of the things that what you know, with all of the things that are happening in the Northwest Territories is what we are doing is we are focusing the midwifery on the programs that we currently have. So Fort Smith was the first program. We expanded into Hay River. But currently right now, Mr. Speaker, we are barely filling those positions in those two communities where there are no prenatal services and no other services that will be providing to those members in those communities that deliver. So this is where we need to focus on midwifery because midwifery is to be able to birth closer to home with your family and those people in those communities. That is where we want to make sure that these programs are successful so that's where we're refocusing that area to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm really glad we agree. So then I am looking forward to the next agreeable answer from the Minister when she explains the role of the Midwifery Advisory Council on how the services of midwifery are being rolled out in the Northwest Territories to serve sometimes the first choices of expectant mothers to go through that process. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to also hear how the Minister expresses the advisory committee's advice on how we do job postings and reaching out in recruitment of midwives. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. I think that's a couple of questions in there. So I'm going to turn to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the positions that are currently in the communities are governmentfunded positions and, yes, I hear the Member of how we would use a midwifery advisory, you know. We have created these positions with collaborations within the department with them and, you know, moving forward this is the thing, is we need to make sure that those positions in the communities that Fort Smith, like I said, and Hay River, which do not have birthing services. Inuvik and Yellowknife have birthing services right now, and so we're going to switch our focus to make sure that we can support those communities. And if it means working more with the advisory on how we do that better in those communities so that these programs are successful and women can birth closer to home in those communities. I also want to note that because we are, you know, having a hard time recruiting for the Hay River, which that community also supports Deninu Kue in their prenatal/postnatal supports. So by not supporting Hay River, you know, we're not supporting Deninu Kue for those people to have that prenatal and postnatal support. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is when is the last time there's been any recruitments in the Yellowknife area that can support the regional centres? And, again, Yellowknife represents half the population, so I'm coming back to what is the Minister looking at from a dollar and cents point of view of recruiting more midwives in Yellowknife to support community birthing options, such as midwifery? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The more support that I put in Yellowknife, the less people that I'm going to have working in the frontline that are actually doing the midwifery program. And so the support that we're leaving in place is to the one position to support the two communities to be able to be effective. You know, if we keep taking away and we put it in Yellowknife, then that's going to be taking away positions or midwives that could be working in those communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very curious on how the Minister reconciles taking away from the communities by supporting the expansion or fulfilling the current program of midwifery in Yellowknife that supports the communities. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain exactly how this takes away from the communities, she keeps saying that, by not supporting the Yellowknife midwifery program? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the position there is still a position to support the two communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
