This is page numbers 6401 - 6420 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 6th 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 communities.

Topics

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About three-quarters of Canadians seek some type of alternative therapy. Therefore, I’m standing today to speak in support of fair and reasonable regulations over alternative therapies such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and naturopath therapy.

Mr. Speaker, regulation has been called for many times by many of these people and these organizations. It’s been calling out to this government by both therapists and clients. These people would like the government to move forward on regulations and protection measures that would ensure both the therapists and the clients are protected through safeguards. Safeguards such as mentioned earlier that the government would come up and define a scope of practice, standards, a code of ethics; as well, it would help regulate through the licensing and registration of these types of therapy practices, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in spite of our lack of legislation and regulation at this particular time, five provinces regulate naturopathic therapy at this present moment and only three regulate massage therapy. Mr. Speaker, there is a real need to ensure our northern citizens are protected by fair and reasonable regulation. That’s something that they want to ensure; that they’re getting protection, getting help in the most safe manner as possible. Mr. Speaker, many people feel strongly that the government has not moved fast enough on this particular initiative. I can tell you, specifically, myself, I’ve had people approaching the government through my office for well over four years on this particular matter and wondering where it is today.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve heard that a complementary medicine legislative proposal that will work as an umbrella piece to help protect our Northerners under these types of therapies will be coming

forward. Mr. Speaker, today is more of a call of action to ensure that we, first of all, do it right, make sure we cover enough of these therapists, and at the same time ensure that we do the due diligence by talking to our northern citizens who want this.

But mainly, Mr. Speaker, I just want to finish off by saying, as I understand, it is looking at things like chiropractic therapy as one of its particular areas it wants to cover, but I want to stress that we need to ensure that we consider naturopathic therapy and massage therapy at the same time. We don’t want to miss this particular window, and as we all know very well, legislation discussion doesn’t happen very often, so let’s take our time, ensure we do proper consultation and get it right. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Welcome to everyone in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of students at Aurora College and specifically the Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith; students from Res and Lutselk'e having some issues with childcare subsidies. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment questions on that.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister agree to complete an assessment or an examination of the child care subsidy for effectiveness? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular issue has been brought to our attention about the student that’s at Fort Smith Aurora College taking a program and being subsidized through our SFA programming. From what’s been shared with us, the funding has not been adequate, according to them, but we did receive some information on what they’re eligible for through SFA programming. I believe there has been additional funding assets and a child care subsidy, as well, through family allowance, I believe.

Mr. Speaker, after child care and all the expenses being paid, there is a small amount of surplus that they can easily take advantage of. At the same time, we will be reviewing the Student Financial Assistance throughout this year and we will be seeking input on how we can deal with these

matters at hand. Mr. Speaker, we are currently going through steps to start reviewing the SFA program. Mahsi.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, the particular issue I speak of is not really a student financial assistance issue but rather an issue with the subsidy pertaining to child care. The Minister is right; the needs seem to be met through student financial assistance, because rents subsidies and other things are given to the students at a lower cost than the other people that are just in the community. However, what I am hoping that the Minister would do is examine the child care subsidy and consider how it accommodates the students. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, over the years we have looked at our policy, our programming on child care subsidy units. There have been some changes to the policy. We do look at these regulations that are before us. If we need to make changes that reflect on the needs of the students, then we have looked at those in the past as well. Since we are going through the SFA programming, we can relook at our child care subsidy, as well, to see where the challenges are.

Mr. Speaker, I did commit in this House already about the SFA programming. SFA does cover a vast area of subsidy programming for students. There are also the other subsidies, income support subsidy, as well, and child care subsidy. Mr. Speaker, we have looked at it in the past and we can look at it again. Mahsi.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, during the review of the subsidies or assistance and so on, would the Minister be prepared to look at increasing the income threshold that allows people to apply for child care subsidy? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, those are the discussions that will likely take place when we seek out information on SFA from the students and from the general public at large. We are going to be waiting for general response that we receive and then move forward on that, what needs to be changed within our current policy based on what has been asked from the general public, if we could pursue that. We will be waiting for those types of responses from the public. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Although this is a constituent of mine that brought the issue to my attention, there are many other students with similar problems. Would the Minister commit to going to Fort Smith to meet with the student body on this issue of child care prior to the end of April? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mr. Speaker, I already did commit to visiting those students who

are willing to sit down at the Thebacha Campus. I am probably going there the first week of April when we are having a tour of the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative in Hay River. We figure we might attach a trip to Fort Smith. We are still working on the logistics, but once that is confirmed, we will let the Members know. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement of earlier today on naturopathic medicine, in particular naturopathic doctors. I know the Department of Health and Social Services is working on some regulations and some legislation now for kind of an umbrella legislation to cover a wide variety of professionals. I am wondering what it would take to get the naturopathic doctors included in that legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; we are considering an omnibus legislation on various health or allied health professions and it is possible that this could be inputted in that. Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that it is possible that it can. I am wondering what it would take to get it included in the first round. Can we actually get the naturopathic doctors included in this legislation that will be coming forward at some point either later in this Assembly or early in the next one? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I need to caution the Member and anybody else who is discussing this naturopathic medicine, that we do not refer to anybody as a doctor. That is actually the issue in question, because under the NWT legislation, no one other than a doctor, physician or surgeon is allowed to call themselves a doctor. Naturopathic doctors are not recognized as doctors in the Territories and of they were to call themselves a doctor, that is illegal. That is an issue here. I need to let the Members know, and the public know, the naturopathic medicine, people can practice that right now without regulation, it is just that they cannot call themselves doctors. Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, the Minister nicely gave us the reason why we need to get these positions in regulation. There are naturopathic doctors in at least five provinces in Canada. There

is a Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors and these people that we are referring to do take a significant amount of education, often degree based. So, clearly, we need to get them into regulation which would protect their titles and would allow them to use the titles that they have worked so hard to get over the last couple of years or over the years.

In the regulation, Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that the regulations that are going to be covered through this legislation will cover things like scope of practice so we know what kind of practice these individuals can legally do in the Northwest Territories. Right now, the individuals she is talking about, their scope of practice is undefined. Would the Minister commit to including the naturopathic medical providers in the legislation and include a scope of practice so everybody can have a sense of comfort as to what these people can provide in the Northwest Territories?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just reiterate that the department is reviewing the possibility of including this group of practitioners into omnibus allied health professional legislation. Each of them have very, very few numbers and this has been in the works and it will take some time to develop, but it is under review.

Secondly, it’s the Medical Profession Act in the Northwest Territories that defines who are doctors and who can call themselves doctors, so there is conflicting legislation that we need to work through.

The third thing is what is important is that for those people who are practicing naturopathic medicine, they are allowed to practice that as they exist now. So no one is interfering with their practices. They could have clients, they could do the work, because I have been getting lots of letters from the general public who would like to continue to have that practice offered to them. I want to assure them that they can continue to have that. It is just that those people who are practicing this field cannot call themselves doctors. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again she is explaining so clearly why we need to get this into regulation legislation. It’s my understanding that this legislation, if it comes through, will protect titles, it will require people to have a licensure in another jurisdiction and those types of things, but it doesn’t talk about scope of practice. The Minister does say that they will be able to practice here in the Northwest Territories, but what comfort do both patients and providers have that their role is understood and they have to operate within some set parameters?

We need some scope of practice work done on this as well. I was wondering if the Minister could

commit, as they move forward with legislation, that will include these naturopathic medical providers. Will it include some definition around scope of practice for the safety of our residents and the providers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I think the Member is drawing a clear picture of the complexities involved in this. Our staff has met with the people that practice naturopathic medicine in the Territories. They were advised that they should continue to keep their licence in other jurisdictions, then they can continue to practice naturopath medicine here. They can continue to provide services to their clients. It is just that they cannot call themselves a doctor. In order to do that, we need to do some more work. We will continue to do that, but this will be something that would require more work and it is under review. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance questions on my Member’s statement on our Member of Parliament’s private member’s bill, C-530. What is our government’s position on this current legislation that is before the House of Commons? Thank you.