Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as I indicated, there are core programs and there are those services that have to be provided by all the boards. I do not have all the specifics here in front of me, but certainly it is one of the areas that we will continue to work toward when we are finalizing our agreements with our partners, the boards and the services they deliver. Thank you.
Debates of Feb. 24th, 1998
This is page numbers 1041 - 1091 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairperson.
Topics
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Kelvin Ng Kitikmeot
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems to me that what we call a core program is still up to the discretion of the boards. Is this correct?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Kelvin Ng Kitikmeot
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I do not know how to explain it. The boards have a responsibility to carry out the prenatal programs at the well- women clinics and the well baby clinics. A major part of that, of course, is the nutritional aspect and the preventative aspect of keeping those children healthy. It is up to the boards. They are required to provide the service. How they provide that service is up to them in respect to how they deliver those programs, but it is certainly a core service that we ask them to provide. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If one board here, say in the Mackenzie region, I could place top priority in a preventative program for children for their dental care and another one as an example, say over in Inuvik, they could place a totally different priority, so it could be done not as well. Is that what I am hearing? It could be say, fifth on the list as a priority? Is that the way it could happen?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Kelvin Ng Kitikmeot
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask Mr. Ramsden to try to elaborate on it a bit more. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1078
Ramsden
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is the difficulty I have in trying to find the words to make this clear to Members. Whether something is first, second or third on the list, what we are saying to the boards is that these services must be provided. We also sit with the boards and look at the dental health statistics, the issues or the numbers, as we see the kinds of either teeth missing, filled or decayed teeth. We will work with the boards on changing or deciding that their approach in this area is appropriate at this time. The boards can use their discretion, region by region or community by community in terms of who is best able to do a good job of conveying the information and providing the support to parents to creating the
knowledge base, but there is not a debatable point here. They must provide the programs and they must attain the performance or make the improvements in dental health that the Minister and the board chair sign off on. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
The Chair Vince Steen
Thank you, Mr. Ramsden. I am on operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $59.435 million. Agreed?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is this the case with every board then that the department would work with the board to determine what is the best action at the time, say based on the dental services that had to be provided to the previous year, to decide how to implement a preventative program for that particular year?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, these are exactly the areas of flexibility. What we are relying significantly on boards for is an identification of the best way to make the improvements that we desire to have made. One program delivered one way, on the same day, in the same colour room, with the same brochures, in every community, in the same language in the Northwest Territories does not work. We know it does not work. We need the flexibility at a community and regional level to achieve the results that everybody agrees need to be achieved. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not suggesting that we should have one program in the same language, with the same colour brochures in the same wording, and that has been shown to not work. What I am suggesting is that this is such a high priority, I believe that we should have a territorial program that each board places the same priority upon and is done consistently across the territories. I would ask the department to consider that this should be a territorial program, not just something that is totally left up to the boards on how they are going to implement and what priority basis that they place upon the service.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Kelvin Ng Kitikmeot
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will take the Member's comments into consideration, particularly as relates to our next discussions with the health care association, which is representative of all the boards. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
The Chair Vince Steen
Thank you, Mr. Ng. Mr. Erasmus. I have operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $59.435 million. Agreed?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
The Chair Vince Steen
I have on page 6-8, activity summary, primary and acute care programs, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $129.158 million. Agreed?
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.