Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the ability to communicate is crucial in our world today. You can't buy milk, meet a friend or share an experience if you can't communicate. Most of us communicate through the use of speech and language. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, there are
many young people in the Northwest Territories and in Yellowknife who have difficulty with speech and language. Without help, these children can face problems in school and ridicule of their peers.
Fortunately, there are trained specialists who can work with these children. Stanton Hospital has two speech language pathologists on staff. The problem is that these staff are expected to deal with all of the children with speech and language problems in the western Arctic. Speech therapy is not a matter of seeing a person once and sending them away with the answer. For many children, there is a need for regular therapy to work on the problem. As a result, the two pathologists just can't keep up with the workload.
In October, ordinary Members raised the concern that school-age children had been cut off from speech therapy services at Stanton hospital for close to a year. At that time, the Minister of Health and Social Services confirmed that her ministry was responsible for providing speech therapy services for school-age children. The Minister also said, and I quote: "The speech therapists we presently have are tremendously overburdened and not all students requiring speech therapy are able to be seen. I would like to confirm that we are doing everything we can to resolve that particular situation with the acknowledgement that we know we are understaffed in that area."
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Minister that they are understaffed. The Yukon government, serving the same population as Stanton, has six speech therapists on staff and also calls on a private clinic, as required. The Minister also said on Monday, October 31st, and I quote: "I will try my best to look at the resources we have during the next couple of months to see where resources can be deployed and where we can set priorities on areas of major concern."
Mr. Speaker, it is now February and there are still no services for school-age children needing speech therapy services through the Department of Health and Social Services. A small amount of funding was supplied to local school boards but it only covered some training for teachers and a handful of assessments. There is still no therapy for these students.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.