Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The letter that I wrote to the Beaufort Health and Social Services Authority directing them to transfer $75,000 to a community government who may be willing to deliver this program is as a result of the fact that the Tl’oondih Healing Society and the authority, their discussions have not resulted in a resolution as to how this program could be delivered there. The amount of $75,000 is in line with the money that the authority had given to Tl’oondih Healing Society in the last fiscal year. The dollar amount that the Member is speaking about is bigger than the contribution that the authority used to give to Tl’oondih Healing Society. The Member is mistaken in mixing the two funds. I just want to indicate to the Member I did this because that was what the Member wanted for the community. If he would like me to revisit that and tell the authority not to do it, I would be happy to do that as well. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have been getting calls from my leadership wondering where is this position, how soon can they see the money and how soon can they fill that position. I would like to ask the Minister, have you got any direction back that the health authority will agree to releasing that money to the community? How soon will it happen?

Mr. Speaker, I directed the authority last week. I would be happy to check with the Member if that is what he wishes me to do and to make sure this has been followed through. I have no reason to believe that it would not be. Thank you.

The Minister is more hopeful than I am. This is something I have been dealing with for 12 years. Again, I would like to get back to the original question. Mental health and addiction services in Fort McPherson is $184,815 for two positions. One is a mental health position and one is an alcohol and drug position. The mental health position is more costly than the alcohol and drug position. Also there is O and M dollars there to operate and maintain an office. I would like to ask the Minister, in light of this budget item, can the Minister direct the health authority to give all the dollars that are for that position including the O and M that goes along with it?

My discussion with the Member from Mackenzie Delta for the last six months has revolved around the contract the Tl’oondih Healing Society has had with the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority. The Member would like us to expend that. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important we ask the authority and the band office or the community government to work on this position and then see from there how we could expend that. We know that there are two or three positions on the Mental Health and Wellness Program. The focus right now is to use the money that used to be allocated to the Tl’oondih Healing Society which has not been used for a very long time. I am hearing from the communities as well as the Member that we need to do something there right away. I would like to ask the Member to let us just focus on this first and then go from there as to how we expend that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister get back to me and the community leaders as soon as possible that this has been prescribed and in which direction it has been given. The divisional board of health in Inuvik has agreed they will transfer that money and will allow the community to fill that position in regards to who they like to run the programs and services. Can the Minister keep me and the community involved in when this decision is made and when the action is going to take place to move on it? Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I would be happy to do that. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Despite my flu, I am still willing to go at it. Mr. Speaker, the issue I raised today in my Member’s statement is the idea of establishing an ombudsman’s office. I can go into numerous examples, but I think even our good Premier has probably had some experience where some decisions have been made in the past when he was a Regular MLA. It was tough to get to the bottom of them. What I am suggesting is that we establish an ombudsman’s office, not unlike any of the other statutory offices we have here in the Northwest Territories, to help both constituents and ourselves to get to the bottom of why certain decisions are made and to make sure that they are both fair, balanced and definitely respectful. Mr. Speaker, my question directed to the Premier, of course, is would he take a look at this initiative and see if there are certain merits to do something similar as they do in the Yukon to establish an NWT ombudsman’s office here in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be prepared to, through our business planning process and cycle, work with Members of the Assembly if they feel that this is an initiative that should be added to that process for consideration. I would be prepared to do that. Thank you.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier and a follow up to my Member’s statement. Can the Premier explain to me how an improved case management approach to clients with multiple issues could be based on something other than consent and participation of the client in determining his or her needs whether or not the various case workers are employed by the same board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That response will probably require taking up a fair

bit of time. If we want to go into all the details of our processes that are in place, some of it existing in legislation, some of it on professional responsibilities and all the different professions, but there are examples where people fall between the cracks between one department and another and it is a case management process that we need to look at. It is not an issue of the access to information piece; it is more our own process whether it is in legislation or professional responsibility. If we are to proceed down this path, we would have to look at that type of area and make some changes which would have been, I believe, incorporated in the process we were initially undertaking. But we could look at trying to do something in a different manner as we progress forward. Thank you.

I appreciate that response. Following up on that, currently there is only one position allocated in the GNWT as the GNWT’s resource for access to information and protection of privacy legislation. That position is located within the Department of Justice. Does the Premier agree that, since privacy is an issue, the government needs to allocate more than one position to this responsibility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if going with the issue of case management on these files, again, I don’t believe that is an issue of access to information. It is the professionals working together and looking at our legislation that we have in place or regulations. The access to information office, again, if they feel that they are in need of expanding their services, we would have to look through that as the next business planning cycle approaches us. Thank you.

I think that the two are actually related. Training could be an issue. I don’t believe that all the staff is aware that there are ways to share information legally and work together. The departments tend to live in silos. Client consent is effective. Would the Premier commit to ensure that staff from senior managers down to program delivery staff are adequately trained and understand the concepts of consent for release and sharing of information? I believe that many residents wouldn’t resist releasing their information if they understand why it is in their best interest and how it could help government provide holistic care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I think this is a systematic issue that we need to deal with where we talk about what the Members have mentioned, silos and departments working from time to time, we have been trying to change that approach and that work environment. I think that with the work that we can do, if we want to move

forward, we can look at options of trying to level that out. If it requires on the other side trying to come up with a process for staff to better share information, we can do that, but that work will have to be undertaken. We will have to look at professional designations, our legislation and regulations as well. We are prepared to look at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Premier for that response. He did talk about legislation. Would the Premier commit to reviewing legislation related to providing health, housing and education services to residents of the North that ensures certain necessary pieces of information can be shared without unnecessarily or inappropriately compromising the privacy of our residents? For example, when is it appropriate or reasonable for a department to share generic information with another department, things like health care and cards for determining residency? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the fact is that our employees all swear an oath to confidentiality on the files, that should be a fairly clear step that we should be able to share information. But there are a lot of groups out there in other areas outside of government that look at how we hold information or use that information and how it is shared even amongst departments within one government. We will have to take a good look at this and take the appropriate approach and work with Members to come up with a solution that would work. I believe we all work, our staff work, whether it is health, education, justice or housing, they work for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Whether it is through an authority or not, the funding does flow. The legislation exists at this level and we should be able to make it work. Thank you.