Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would like to continue to deal with the Special Committee on Health and Social Service's report. Thank you.
Debates of Nov. 26th, 1993
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jeannie Marie-Jewell Thebacha
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Does the committee agree that we deal with Committee Report 1-12(14)?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
---Agreed
Committee Report 1-12(4), Special Committee On Health And Social Services Final Report
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. As I mentioned earlier, when we concluded we were dealing with recommendation 15. Recommendation 15 was a motion. Mr. Dent.
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![Charles Dent](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/15-charles-dent/4bb9e502208ef37f0a3edb5cda4065ca.jpg)
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Recommendation 15 is the motion that is on the floor, Mr. Chairman. I call for the question.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Question has been called. Mr. Gargan, we have already called a vote. Does the committee agree with the motion? All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Whitford.
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![Tony Whitford](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/11-tony-whitford/105f4ea7b52656a29f4630008629dd25.jpg)
Tony Whitford Yellowknife South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, front line workers have identified a lack of training as one of the greatest problems they face in performing their duties. Additional training should be provided through conferences, workshops, distance learning, in-service training by visiting specialists and greater information sharing between workers. These activities would benefit the community by increasing the skills of front line workers and reducing the reliance on fly-in specialists.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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![Tony Whitford](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/11-tony-whitford/105f4ea7b52656a29f4630008629dd25.jpg)
Tony Whitford Yellowknife South
Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I move that this committee recommend that front line health and social service workers should be provided with greater training opportunities, and the government should present a report on progress made in this area to the 1994 fall session of the Legislative Assembly.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Whitford. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Gargan.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the committee if they could clarify what they mean by front line workers, where are the deficiencies, and what are the purposes of conference workshops and distance learning?
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, can we have clarification from the special committee membership? Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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![Charles Dent](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/15-charles-dent/4bb9e502208ef37f0a3edb5cda4065ca.jpg)
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As part of our project, we did a survey of front line workers to ask them what they saw as the biggest concerns in doing their job. We heard, overwhelmingly, that a lack of training and training opportunities, was one of the problems they saw. Some of the areas in which people told us they thought they needed more training included dealing with family violence, child sexual abuse, substance abuse, suicide and family...(Microphone turned off).
There are an awful lot of challenges to people in the field. We are not only talking about the challenges faced by social services workers. We are talking about the challenges faced by all front line workers, including community health representatives and people in the health field. Community health representatives clearly told us that they felt they should have better training in public health awareness and better ability to help and train people to understand how to prevent illness.
Nurses told us they thought they could benefit from training in fields of some of the specialists that were travelling through. They wanted to see increased opportunities for in-service training during the tours of specialists.
As well, people in the alcohol and drug field often mentioned to us that they thought there was a need to improve their abilities to deal with the problems they face in their communities. All in all, people said they wanted to receive more training so they could do a better job of dealing with the problems they face with their clients in the communities.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Dent. To the motion. Mr. Gargan.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho
When you refer to front line workers, you are referring to specific target groups that work directly with the public. When you talk about fly-in specialists, I'm not too sure what that means. Are we talking about doctors, psychiatrists, dentists and eye doctors? What are we looking at here?
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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![Charles Dent](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/15-charles-dent/4bb9e502208ef37f0a3edb5cda4065ca.jpg)
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are talking about all the specialists that Mr. Gargan just mentioned. For instance, people who work in mental health counselling wanted to be able to have some time to work with psychiatrists who come into the communities to try to upgrade their skills. People in the communities told us that psychiatrists, for instance, don't visit the communities enough. They don't see enough of the professionals.
In terms of health centres, yes, we are talking about when doctors visit. For instance, when an obstetrician or gynaecologist visits the community, the people in the health centres told us they wanted an opportunity to gain from the knowledge that these health specialists may have in those areas, where they may be better able to serve the people in the community, because the obstetricians and gynaecologists aren't there all the time.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Gargan.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho
Mr. Chairman, a survey was done with front line workers, I understand. I would like to ask who did the survey. The other thing is, I still have yet to see a psychiatrist go to Fort Providence. I don't know whether everyone there is in a good state of mind or not, but you can't depend on fly-in specialists. This is one of the areas where we see a high degree of demand. We see the doctors, eye doctors and dentists. Good, that is fine, the demands are there for them, too.
But in the area of mental health, child abuse and physical abuse -- those are all areas that a psychiatrist works in -- we never see them in the communities. Perhaps that is why we have so many problems at that level. Presumably, Mr. Dent has information from front line workers about all the communities where the psychiatrist does visit.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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![Charles Dent](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/15-charles-dent/4bb9e502208ef37f0a3edb5cda4065ca.jpg)
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In response to Mr. Gargan's first question about who did the survey, the survey was commissioned by the Special Committee on Health and Social Services and coordinated through the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories. It was set up under the supervision of the Science Institute. Telephone and mail-out surveys were done in different segments. That report, along with the methodology, has been tabled in the House, Mr. Chairman, so it is available for all Members to have a look at.
In relation to whether a psychiatrist has been to Providence, I can only hope that Mr. Gargan is right and the people of Fort Providence have no need of psychiatric services. I'm afraid I can not answer on behalf of the Department of Health as to why they have chosen one community over another to send people to. One of the things our committee has said is, people should be entitled to similar services all across the territories. I would hope that people across the Northwest Territories are being treated in a similar manner. I should say we hope that they will be. However, we know that they are not, because we were told that they are not throughout our consultation process.
In fact, a lot of communities told us that they have not seen the specialist that they should see, either. The bottom line is in our report we say that we do need to get more counselling opportunities and more professional help into the communities. That's one of the things that we have identified as a problem and hope to ask the government to address through the adoption of our report.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Dent. To the motion. Mr. Gargan.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I referred to Fort Providence, I wasn't suggesting that everybody was in a good state of mind and that's why we never see psychiatrists going in there. That's not my point. My point is that I think the psychiatrist visits Yellowknife, but where else does he visit? As far as I'm concerned, I don't think he ever goes to any community unless for the purposes of trial, to determine people's state of minds in cases.
I would like to request a copy of the tabled document on the survey. I want to know what it is called, so I can get a copy of it.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent, would you be able to provide a copy to the honourable Member? Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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![Charles Dent](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/15-charles-dent/4bb9e502208ef37f0a3edb5cda4065ca.jpg)
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Mr. Chairman, the name of the document is, The Front Line Workers Survey. I will hand Mr. Gargan a copy of it right now.
Committee Motion 21-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 16, Carried
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Dent. That is very efficient of you. To the motion. Mr. Gargan.