Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be for the Minister of Health and Social Services. So the compliment first.
Mr. Speaker, I hear the recruitment process is actually quite good. I hear that from the union. I hear that from the nurses and even the doctors. So hooray for the recruitment people. However, on the other side of the coin, I won't say what it -- call it -- but that said, it's the other side of the compliment. I often hear that the retention problem with respect to the investment and listening to those areas of concern is lacking; so in other words, it's less good.
Mr. Speaker, what can the Minister do to survey both the doctors and the nurses to find out more of -- or sorry, the creation or strengthen our retention policy so those folks don't get hired and then look at trying to leave. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kudos on the recruitment. You know, that is thanks to the Department of Finance working in collaboration. They lead this area. And the work that's being done within the health authority, there is the strategic planning that is going on right now with the new recruitment and retention policy that's going on, and that will be released, I think, this spring. I don't have the exact details or time. I can -- and within the -- each authority, what we've been doing right now is we've been doing the town halls. We've completed -- we just most recently completed three regions in NTHSSA, and we completed Tlicho, we've completed Hay River. We've got the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu and Yellowknife region still to hear from, and that is with senior leadership. And from that work, we'll also add to the direction into management as to what more needs to be done at the frontline level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear that Williams Lake, BC, you know a small little town in the middle of the province of BC, gets lots of doctors and medical support people, and why? Because their recruitment and retention people cater to the needs of these particular people. Mr. Speaker, I'm talking specifically about just once we hire you, you're left alone. We can't have that attitude.
Mr. Speaker, is there any way that the Minister can do a survey through the medical association and the CAN, the nursing association, to find out what is it the nurses and the doctors need to ensure that they feel as either they're part of the community, their work's recognized, or even the changing of the nature of the industry is such that needs aren't currently being met. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the discussions that I'm having with NTHSSA and the public administrator, this is some of the work that I would be expecting them to do. I know that the public administrator has met with the medical association. I know that they are scheduled to meet with CAN. I know that, you know, there is ongoing work that he takes part in the town halls hearing from frontline staff. He works directly with NTHSSA. You know, with the PA for Hay River, this is the work that they're doing, as well as the Tlicho. You know, there is a lot of work that is going on, listening to -- and it's not to be that there isn't work going on. That work is continuing to go on. And at this time across -- you know, across every region, you know, we're all struggling. We're all struggling where we're working, you know, when we talk about a lot of the nurses going into the small communities, you know, there's just not a lot of nurses going back to those communities to live and work. So what we're struggling with is the turnaround is not necessarily long-term nurses. The nurses that have been around are retiring. We've got a lot of retiring staff within the health field that are leaving small communities, and now it's ending up being a lot of locum staff having to fill those gaps. So we're working with each region. And I think that's the work that I've, you know, left within the PA of both health authorities, and Tlicho is doing a lot of that work at the ground level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Very quickly, Mr. Speaker, I'm not here to tell the Minister how to bargain; however, for years the nurses, for example, have been asking for shift premiums and labour market supplements.
Mr. Speaker, if they provide proposals, will the Minister carry that like a football all the way through FMB and score a touchdown with that industry and show them you care and you're fighting for them? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not sit at the bargaining table when the collective agreements are being negotiated. There is a team that does that. However, they do -- health does carry that football and brings it over as part of those -- all of those things that they're hearing from their staff. And, you know, and I think that when the Member relates to different regions in different provinces, we have to bargain -- like, we can only do what we can do within our collective agreement and that agreement now is a new agreement that we have to follow for the next -- I think it is until 2027. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Mr. Clerk.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pursuant to Rule 7.27, I received follow-up information for Oral Question 49-20(1), Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter asked on February 12th, 2025, by the Member for Deh Cho to the Minister responsible for Housing Northwest Territories.
