Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Mr. Moses.

The question that I wanted to ask earlier was with the Health Promotion Fund. Can the Minister maybe just give us an update in terms of funding for the dollars, if there has been an increase in the terms of dollars specifically towards the Health Promotion Fund over the last, let’s say, maybe three or four years. If he can give us an update on that.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We don’t believe there has been an increase. If there has been an increase, then we can get back to the Member, but we don’t believe there has been an increase in that area in the last three or four years.

I think it was during general comments that I made some comments towards the Health Promotion Fund and asked about multi-year funding. The Minister did confirm that there was multi-year funding with no cap on the years that a certain organization can continue to get that funding, and if it is a successful program, it would possibly turn into core programming dollars to fund the successful program. In terms of the Health Promotion Fund, if it hasn’t increased and we do get the same organizations utilizing the same dollars for successful programs, that doesn’t free up any new dollars for any other organizations that are coming up with unique or innovative ideas that can have an impact on the health of our residents of the Northwest Territories.

In that sense, does the department look at creating some type of limit on the number of years that an organization can access funding? If it’s continued, then it just becomes core funding, from what I’m thinking.

There is no limit in the time that we can provide funding to an organization, and then we look at any new organization in this area on a case-by-case basis.

A last question on this page here. It goes back to the Midwifery Program and some questions that were brought forward by my colleagues here. In the midwifery report there was a standard of practice for registered midwives in the NWT, February 2005. You go through it and there is some really good information there in terms of standards for midwives that would practice in the Northwest Territories. We constantly hear the Minister say that they need this coordinator to develop regulations, standards and competencies before moving forward.

I’d like the Minister to give me his reasoning why we’re not using these standards of practices for midwives that were signed off by one of our previous Ministers of Health, and why do we have to reinvent the wheel. Why do we have to go back out and continue to try to develop these standards that are sitting right in front of me? I’d like to ask the Minister why we are going to waste a year developing standards when there are midwives in the communities that need healthy pregnancies and healthy deliveries.

This is the 2005 standards that will have to be updated. I do believe that the 2005 standards were developed for community midwifery, which was midwifery that is continuing on in Fort Smith. We recognize that that has been a successful program. We’re trying to develop territorial standards. We are trying to build on the standards around the education requirements for midwives. As I indicated, there is going to be some consultation within our system with physicians and also community consultation. Also, the plan was to have a discussion and utilize the current midwives in order to develop and update the standards. We don’t consider it a waste of our time to be doing this work.

Just continuing on, the Minister mentioned that these standards were made for a community recommendation, and the recommended model that was based out of the midwifery report specifically asks for community-based models. That’s what we’re trying to get started up in Hay River, on-the-ground running. We have the standards.

With that said, can I ask the Minister what standards are the midwives in Fort Smith using right now? If these need to be revised, and it’s a successful program in Smith, and we’re going to support it, what standards are they using in Smith, and why do we have to revise if it’s a successful program? It confuses me and this Minister’s confusing me.

We will revise or upgrade the standards to the standards of today. Those midwifery standards were community standards also developed in 2005. I’m assuming that even in Fort Smith we were planning on updating the standards, even with the one that’s operational in Fort Smith.

Also, the thought is that Hay River would become more of a regional midwifery operation, so that we’re going to look at incorporating the regional standards into this, and so that when we move to Inuvik we will have a lot of the standards developed. But then in Inuvik it’s going to be slightly different, because in Inuvik the catchment area for the midwives in Inuvik would be some communities that are fly-in only. There are some regulations around the flights people are taking, pregnant

women, on when they would fly, when they would see the midwives and so on, assuming they choose to have their deliveries with a midwife.

In Hay River, the regional program there, we’re going to have the catchment area there all be driving into Hay River. The standards are going to be slightly different than just the community one. We’re looking at upgrading or revising the standards to develop standards that would encompass every midwifery program available. The education standards we also consider to be important. Right now we don’t know if we’re going to educate our own midwives or if we’re going to draw on midwives that are already educated in other parts of Canada or other parts of the world. Right now we want to look at our education standards around the midwives also.

We’re hoping that at the end of this coming fiscal year we’re able to have children from Hay River born in Hay River. We also hope by that time there is also physicians in place that will support that. We think that the fact that two new physicians have come to Fort Smith, it’s going to increase the amount of children from Fort Smith born right in Fort Smith. Right now, with only midwives, about 50 percent of the children from Fort Smith are born in Fort Smith. We’re hoping to increase that number by introducing physicians. In Hay River we hope to have the same type of success when the midwives are in place and there are also Hay River doctors in place.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Moses, your time is up. I can put you back on the list if necessary. Next on the list is Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I just want to start by saying I support my colleagues on this demand for midwifery service now in Hay River. I recognize that we could do public consultation on this, but I don’t see any conflict with getting something going now. I am surprised by the Minister’s question about why are we pushing this. I wish he’d had time to go out and speak to the young ladies, young families, moms and dads and kids that were walking outside the building here a couple days ago. The demand is there. People want it and they want it now.

We have had programs. We’ve cut back on our programs. That was years ago now. It was so-called temporary, cutting back the Yellowknife program. Now Yellowknife is completely out of the ballgame here. There is certainly no level of trust in the public on this issue. People want action now. They don’t want us talking about it anymore. We are supporting our public in this case.

My understanding is the federal funding for the midwife goes through 2013-2014. If that’s the case, we should be using that money to hire midwives. The bottom line is we have to get something on the

ground in Hay River, be it a couple of part-time, half-time midwives or whatever, but let’s get going. None of that would prevent the Minister’s methodic and thorough, and some might say pedantic but I realize that work needs to be done, but none of that would be delayed. That could be ongoing.

I certainly agree with comments on standards. We have a very happy community that is, as far as I know, enjoying a sterling record of midwifery services without kerfuffles, given the standards that they’re meeting. The experience communicating with other providers, physicians and so on, are there. We have those, and those are available for consultation as we put this program in place in Hay River. I don’t have questions there.

We have a report that again outlines many of the benefits which I know the Minister recognizes. Again, there is no question in terms of why we want this. They demand it, and the benefits are huge. That’s why they’re demanding it. So let’s get going with some on-the-ground services on midwifery.

The Healthy Families program, I believe that’s under this page, but it may come under community health later. I see community health programs are here as well as later. I’m just wondering what our expansion plans are for Healthy Families this fiscal year that is being proposed, 2013-2014. I know we’ve done some expansion in the past on this program that I heartily endorse, and I appreciate the efforts of the department to do that expansion. I’m wondering where our expansion is this year.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess for clarification, I just want to explain what it is that we’re doing with Healthy Families and the internal discussions we’re having for expansion. The Healthy Families have been expanding to all of the regions. I believe we have a program in every region. Just expanding now into the Sahtu, and then that would place us into all of the regions.

The next plan for expansion, I guess contingent upon getting the funding through the business planning process, is to expand to the larger communities in the regions that don’t have a Healthy Families program. It is very much contingent upon where the children are born, which community the children are born in. If we have a lot of births out of Tuk and Aklavik, then the plan is to expand into those two communities.

So any communities where we have a lot of births, that is the plan. But for now what we have on the books is what we’re funded for. Anything beyond that, we come back through the business planning process for additional dollars to expand beyond the last thing we’re putting in the Sahtu.

Thanks to the Minister. That sounds like a plan. Is the Sahtu being done during

this current fiscal year that we’re in? And if that’s the case, and we’ve heard the plan to go where there are lots of new babies, where in the budget do we have the proposal for expanded healthy families programs for this fiscal year coming?

We don’t, beyond what is indicated in our business plan now, have in our mains more money targeted in here. However, we are working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in the early childhood development. Some of that money could be used to expand Healthy Families beyond what we have laid out, which would, I think, include most communities where there are a number of births.

I guess I’m disappointed that we’re not identifying new dollars for this year, but I appreciate the Minister’s answer there. I will just mention that the Healthy Families program is what I consider promotion and prevention. It’s the number one program in the promotion and prevention. I know we’re going to be speaking to that throughout the department here, but I want to raise that flag.

I guess my last question. Do we have regional programs? I know in Yellowknife we have a number of homes for people who require supportive living. It’s almost independent supported living, but often in groups. I believe that is a co-operative program between Health and Housing. I’m wondering, do we have those programs in our regions, and do we have an inventory of the people who require this sort of support and housing?

We would be able to provide an inventory of units that are targeted to supported living, but we don’t have that information with us here today.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Bromley, you have 53 seconds. Do you have another question?

Thank you, Madam Chair. That’s all I have for this page.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Next is Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My questions will be on EMR, so that gives the Minister a chance to find the queue in the page.

One of the five priorities of the 17th Legislative

Assembly was to ensure fair, reasonable and sustainable health care systems. EMR was not directly mentioned in our original priorities, but it was implied as something we were going to invest in for our future. Currently, Yellowknife and Hay River are fully operational EMRs, and we know that the Department of Health and Social Services has received territorial funding for this as well as federal funding through I believe it’s called the Infoway funding.

Can the Minister or the deputy minister give us a clear indication of how much money we have spent so far in EMR and how much of that money was federal money that we have?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Ms. Mathison.