The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will be meeting with the federal environment Minister next week in Vancouver. He will be raising that matter with her. Certainly, we are prepared to go to Ottawa to meet with the Prime Minister to discuss this very important matter.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the years, this concern has received a lot of support from the congress in the United States, but recently with the election of Trump it has really opened up the hard facts that, you know, they are planning to open up the 1002 lands. We do have the Porcupine Caribou Management Board and other Gwich'in nations in the Yukon that travel to Washington to lobby. If possible, would the Premier be willing to also travel down to represent the communities of the Northwest Territories to lobby congress in Washington? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Over the years, we have had occasion to travel to Washington for numerous reasons. I think we will be prepared to do that again. We will see how many Cabinet Ministers we would have to take, but I think it is a big enough issue, international issue, that I think it is an important matter that we will be prepared to discuss with the leadership in the area, as well. I think it would be helpful to have a coordinated effort. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a second set of questions on my statement I made today about intimate partner violence. This set of questions is for the Minister of Justice. As I mentioned, I am referencing the same report about how to improve service to women who experience intimate partner violence. One recourse that women have is to apply for an emergency protection order. Research has shown that there is no correlation between the number of EPOs issued and either the prevalence of intimate partner violence or the community population. Does the Minister have any ideas about why this discrepancy exists? Thank you.

Masi. The Minister of Justice.

No, I don't, Mr. Speaker. I haven't read the report that was referred to earlier, that I understand was prepared by the Aurora Institute. I certainly would like to take a look at that and perhaps address the concern raised by the Member opposite. What we have seen is EPOs as an important tool in reducing and preventing family violence, but we certainly are looking at ways in which we could improve the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That's good news, that the Minister is open to looking again at this program. I will be tabling this report at the appropriate time. He will have a copy ready to hand. The researchers indicate that men may be using the EPO process to get back at women who want to keep them away by filing for their own EPOs. What kind of oversight is in place to ensure that this retaliatory type of action doesn't happen?

I understand that about 75 application for EPOs are heard each year. It has been noted that the number of male applicants has increased in recent years. Of course, the department does provide training in this area, annual training for RCMP, public information, and outreach. The materials are distributed to communities each year. I would be very disappointed to know that this very good program would be used for the purpose of getting back at the victim.

As disappointing as that may be, it is something that I believe is worth investigating. To that end, since the EPOs were introduced in 2005, what kind of review or evaluation has been done of them and made public?

I'm not certain of any recent evaluation. It sounds as though the Aurora Institute has done some research, and I very much would like to review that research.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What the report does is plot uses of EPO with incidents of intimate partner violence on a map. The research is not what I would call a thorough review. Obviously, in my view, there needs to be a thorough review. Can the Minister commit to doing a review of the emergency protection orders in order to improve their use and efficiency? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, of course, we are always trying to improve our response in this area. I certainly would be prepared to look at this legislation and the use of EPOs. I am quite surprised by the information that has been provided by the Member opposite. I said earlier I am very disappointed to hear that there seems to be an inappropriate use of EPO. Certainly, I will look into this matter. Thank you.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past, our oral health services delivery model consisted of 12 dental therapists in nine communities across the Northwest Territories. There were three positions established in Behchoko, two in Inuvik, one in Deline, Fort Good Hope, Simpson, Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik, Fort McPherson, and Fort Smith. These individuals got their training from a dental therapy training program at the University of Saskatoon. It once upon a time was delivered in Fort Smith, and it was a federally funded program. It was moved to Saskatoon. It was discontinued in 2011.

We no longer have a supply or a training mechanism to train dental therapists at the point in time, Mr. Speaker, we only have four dental therapists left. One of the things we are doing with the oral health strategy is looking at a new way of providing oral health to our youth and to our residents across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It looks like the Minister had all my questions here and was able to answer them all. The answer to the question on how many communities are out there: basically, we have five communities that don't have dental therapists in place. Is the government seriously looking at trying to fill these vacant positions, and if they are, how are they looking at doing this?

Since the program was discontinued at the University of Saskatoon, like I said, we no longer have a supply of the individuals with the appropriate training to fill the role of the dental therapists. In investigating the role of the dental therapists and looking at providing better quality oral health for residents of the Northwest Territories, what became clear is that dental therapists were a school-based position. There was a gap that we were missing, and that was the youth or the children from zero to five were not getting support from the dental therapist positions, which were primarily school-based positions.

What we are looking at doing through the oral health strategy is actually changing it. We are striving to improve the use of our existing resources and changing to more of an oral health -- integrating oral health as part of our overall primary care services and suite of services that are available at the community level. This means working with our community health reps, with our local community health nurses, and providing them with additional tools so that they can provide more oral health services to our residents, and not having it as a separate service but being part of our primary care. That is the work being done right now.

I thank the Minister for that answer. It looks like we are trying to do some good stuff and I applaud the department for that. Is the government looking at maybe working with Aurora College, looking at developing something in this area for the strategy?

In developing the oral health strategy, we have actually contracted a local dentist here in the Northwest Territories to provide some oversight and direction on that. We also have some staff members involved. We are looking at changing the way that we provide oral health services. Some of the things we are hoping to accomplish is to create an integrated oral health program for children within the NWT at all ages, not just the ones in the school system.

We are looking at delivering more prevention/promotion activities with an emphasis on oral health as a part of the overall health, not as a separate program. We are looking at working with our existing staff and providing them with the resources and tools they need and incorporating with other programs like the healthy family program so the information is getting out there and is seen as overall health and the incredible value that maintaining good oral health has on your overall health. It is a change in direction. It is working with our staff to provide more resources. We are not at this point in time looking to train people to occupy the dental therapist positions. We think we are evolving into a better system that is going to provide better results for all residents, especially youth zero to five and in the school system, as well.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.