Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Moses.
Implementation
The majority of stakeholders requested that professionals be given opportunities for substantive input into the development of regulations. The committee was pleased to hear the Minister agree to this request.
Several stakeholders recommended that a majority of registration-committee members be licenced practitioners or at least very knowledgeable about the profession. The committee noted that provisions pertaining to registration committees are flexible enough to accommodate this request.
Some stakeholders drew attention to the difficulty of regulating professions, which have a small number of practitioners. For instance, the Northwest Territories is home to just a handful of naturopathic doctors. The association representing them noted potential for conflicts of interest or situations in which “friends are regulating friends.”
One community advocate made several recommendations. First, she recommended that the department ensure complainants are interviewed by a complaints officer. Second, she recommended that community members be given a stronger voice in the licensing, registration, and complaints processes. Third, she urged caution around the use of alternative dispute resolution processes, noting
that such processes can result in hasty or inadequate remedies for complainants.
Another stakeholder expressed fear that professional standards will erode if foreign-trained professionals are licenced within the Northwest Territories. However, the Minister and his staff indicated that the department does not have the capacity to assess or certify foreign-trained professionals and will therefore only accept foreign- trained professionals who are certified in other Canadian jurisdictions.
With respect to fees, several stakeholders cautioned against overburdening professionals who are required to pay fees to national associations or in other jurisdictions. They requested that the government keep its fees to a minimum. The Minister assured the committee that annual fees in the Northwest Territories will be kept to $300 or less.
Recommended Actions
The Standing Committee on Social Programs recommends the following courses of action:
1) that the Department of Health and Social
Services proceed without delay in regulating the first four professions, including emergency medical service providers, psychologists, licenced practical nurses and naturopathic doctors, and further, that the Department of Health and Social Services respond swiftly to other professions requesting to be regulated;
2) that the Department of Health and Social
Services provide professionals with opportunities for substantive input on the development of regulations;
3) that the Department of Health and Social
Services ensure that the legislation is carefully implemented in accordance with ATIPP and the Health Information Act;
4) that the Department of Health and Social
Services ensure that a majority of registration- committee members be licenced practitioners of the profession;
5) that the Department of Health and Social
Services seek the involvement of professionals in other jurisdictions where there is a small number of professionals practising in the Northwest Territories;
6) that the Department of Health and Social
Services provide community members with opportunities for input in the registration and complaint processes;
7) that the Department of Health and Social
Services direct the complaints officer to interview every complainant to ensure that complaints are accurately understood;
8) that the Department of Health and Social
Services exercise caution in the use of
alternative dispute resolution processes and guard against hasty or inadequate remedies for complainants;
9) that the Department of Health and Social
Services set reasonable and nominal fees for professional memberships; and
10) that the Department of Health and Social
Services require professionals to meet national certification standards, engage in professional development, and keep abreast of best practices in their profession.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
That the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
Through you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass this back to our chair, Mr. Moses. Thank you.