Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to express my appreciation for the work that was done. I think it was great that both the department and the community did reach out to a number of stakeholders, and we did get a lot of submissions coming in even before we went on our little road trip there. As I mentioned, we had nine communities and got a lot of really good feedback. I just wanted to mention there, as well, that I think this is the first time that a committee has taken two significant bills that are going to affect the way that we do our business in the Northwest Territories on the road simultaneously. What was great about it was if members of the public came out to talk about Bill 47, they learned about Bill 44 and they were able to give feedback on Bill 44 and vice versa. So when some members came out specifically for one thing they thought this was a great idea, but they made some comments that were concerning.
The first little area that I’d like to discuss is just in terms of the structure. I know that in some of our regional authorities that we do have public administrators, and I think what I heard most of all was the support for these regional advisory councils that are going to be able to provide supports to provide suggestions, comments at the regional level and that communities are going to start having a voice now at the regional level, which will eventually come to the territorial board of management, which would give impact into this territorial health plan that we’re looking at creating through our chairs from the regions that sit on this board.
As Ms. Bisaro said, we did hear from a lot of the general public that said they need to have people that are on the ground, the front-line workers, the community advocates that know the issues, know the concerns. We need them on the board rather than just an NGO head person or somebody that’s head of the Aboriginal government that can give concrete, quality information. I think the Minister possibly also heard that. A lot of people were really happy that in the bill with the regional advisory committees that the Minister would work with the communities in finding that person and suggesting it.
You heard already about the critical incidents, and what we thought was a great step forward and a very proactive step forward was the motion coming from the Legislative Assembly into looking at those investigations and that was great.
In terms of this bill, we heard a lot of really good feedback, and one thing, taking two types of bills, especially this one, you hear of the challenges, the
barriers and the other issues that come up in terms of the health system. For instance, when we were in Deline we talked about how we can address some health concerns, and people said, “Well, we can try to address them in Deline, but we don’t have the services,” and we heard that from a lot of the smaller communities. So, I think it brought up other areas of programs and services. Obviously, the human resources, the health professionals throughout the regions, the lack thereof and having one territorial health issue, I think, is going to address some of the human resources as well as the financial implications of how we move forward.
Just before I finish off here on general comments, I also just want to make a point that we did hear loud and clear from the Hay River Health and Social Services about all their concerns. I think it was a very good dialogue as one of our bigger community presentations from the community members. I think at the end of that we came out with a good conclusion that they needed that peace of mind and needed something in this bill that’s going to address that moving forward. I think the discussions that committee had with the Minister and the back and forth in bringing the motions forward was great. I appreciate the department and their staff for addressing those nine motions that we brought forward and concurring with them. It shows, as has been stated in this House, how consensus government works when we’re creating bills and making sure that we create the best bill possible.
Just before I finish off, I would like to thank some of the other Members who aren’t on the Standing Committee on Social Programs who joined us at the public hearings, sat at the table with us and addressed some of the concerns that their constituents had and also helping us get the word out there to get people to these meetings.
So with that, I think we’ve got a good piece of legislation here. Thank you.