This is page numbers 5333 - 5364 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 services. View the webstream of the day's session.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 5336

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. First, could the Minister tell us the status of the mandate commitment on developing and implementing an action plan for expanded palliative care services? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That item is 4.2.1. In an effort to limit the number of action plans that we are developing, we have actually incorporated the palliative care work within the existing Continuing Care Services Action Plan. That is actually under objective 4 within that action plan. Palliative care is a component of home and community care, and this review is currently under way and will help to inform these services when they are rolled out and delivered.

Also, Mr. Speaker, palliative care is also a component of the Charting Our Course: Northwest Territories Cancer Strategy 2015-2025, and we have hired a territorial palliative care specialist to work in collaboration with the authority, with the Tlicho Community Services Agency, and Hay River to finalize palliative care policies, care pathways, and protocols for the implementation across the entire health system in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I just have to make sure I understand what was said there. This plan is becoming part of another plan, and the other plan is coming to us I'm not sure when?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The Continuing Care Services Action Plan has already been released. It's a public document, and objective number 4 is the area where we're focusing on some work in the palliative care. We're doing the homecare review, those types of things that are going to help inform how we move forward in this area. Also, Charting Our Course: Northwest Territories Cancer Strategy 2015-2025 has also already been released, and we've already hired a territorial palliative care specialist who is doing a significant amount of work to help streamline palliative services here throughout the Northwest Territories.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I'm wondering what advice the Minster took from families and people who have requested and used palliative care in the development of the provisions in the continuing care plan?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

In the development of the Continuing Care Action Plan, we reached out to stakeholders across the Northwest Territories and got feedback from a number of them. With respect to Charting Our Course: Northwest Territories Cancer Strategy, the territorial palliative care specialist is working with the different authorities and communities in order to streamline services and programs. Some of the things that we're looking at are helping individuals in smaller communities who have family members who might be palliative, to support them in their own homes and communities. This may include support from community health nurses. It may include providing tools or resources, equipment that is necessary to help maintain that person in their home. We are working, where it is safe to do so, to actually have individuals remain in their communities during their final days, but also when they need support, as well.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Finally, I want to ask a question with reference to the Cultural Safety Action Plan that was recently released. Can the Minister tell us how the development of the palliative portion of the Continuing Care Services Plan included traditional knowledge and the healing approaches of all the cultures of the NWT? Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The activities within the Continuing Care Services Action Plan are focused on ensuring culturally safe palliative care for clients and their families throughout the Northwest Territories, and staff are being supported to have cultural safety awareness training. This includes, obviously, updating and adapting practises and resources and tools to ensure that they are contextually as well as culturally appropriate. I know the Member knows, we recently released a Cultural Safety Action Plan which would also be applied in all the work that we do in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In one of my communities, we have a couple who opened their home to homelessness and people who are in need. They do an amazing job, and I don't want to embarrass them so I won't give their names. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Housing: does the Minister know of any programs that this couple can access to improve their home so that it will be a warmer and welcoming home? Thank you, Mr. Speaker?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I just want to thank the Member for bringing this forward. I also want to encourage the Member to have the family maybe contact our office through an email, and then I can share that with other departments such as Health and Social Services, ECE. It wouldn't be the first time that we've taken an interdepartmental focus on helping people out in our communities, or even organizations. I would like to also encourage the individuals to go and speak with their local housing organization, or go into the district office to see what kind of programs they'd be involved in. To get more of the details for the individuals, any Members who might come across such an issue, contact me and send me an email, and then we can get the process started. I do want to appreciate. as the Member said, the family that is taking in people into their homes. It's unfortunate, and if there's a way we can help, we'll definitely look at that.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister. He read all my questions over here, and he was able to answer most of them. I understand an email, but will the Minister be willing to work with me and the family to set up a meeting with his staff to do something like that? I mean, an email would work, but maybe a face-to-face may be beneficial.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, I will definitely commit to having staff work with the Member as well as the family, but to get the ball rolling to get things started and looked into right away, and to get me started having conversations with some of my Cabinet colleagues, I would encourage that the Member work with the family to get an email sent to us with the details so we can look into how we can solve the issue.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's willingness to open up and get an email there and work with his colleagues. Does the Minister know of anything that we can reach out and tell the family about right now through Housing? Are there any homeless programs or something like that, which we're able to work with? This will be my last question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Really, just get us a phone number, even, and we can get staff to call the family and start working on what kind of programs they might be able to apply for. I don't know the situation fully, but we definitely want to help. Get us a phone number. Get it to my office. We'll make sure that staff reach out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm following up on my statement to the Minister of Education here. My first question is: what role does the Early Childhood Education Action Plan play in supporting educating in the Sahtu region? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Early Childhood Education Action Plan doesn't actually specify which regions; however, throughout all of the Northwest Territories, on early childhood, with the partnership with the federal government, we're providing the expansion of our distance delivery for our part-time Early Learning and Childcare Certificate Program, so that's distance learning. That can be provided to all communities. As well, we have an Early Learning Childcare Diploma program currently offered in Yellowknife. Of course, people would have to come to Yellowknife to access that, and we have student financial assistance available for that. We also have additional scholarships for people who are looking into getting into early childhood development. We used to have 10. With the support of the federal government, we now have increased that to 30. Then, of course, we provide funding for junior kindergarten in all regions, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thanks to the Minister for that informative reply. My next question is: is the Minister supportive of an education symposium in the Sahtu region?