Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is becoming extremely difficult for Health Canada counsellors who are contracted to provide counselling services to Northwest Territories residents impacted by the Indian Residential schools, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis, as well as day school clients, to carry out their work. They are self-employed contractors and work alone with no supports. These trauma therapists, employed under Health Canada's Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program, often travel into communities to see their clients, adding additional barriers to receiving help in the COVID era.
One of the main solutions to issues created by COVID has been to move things online or into the virtual realm. Trying to adapt to a virtual world and conduct therapy through telehealth is near impossible as there is no one in these designated communities to set up these sessions. Additionally, we know most people living outside Yellowknife do not have access to the Internet. When they do, it is extremely limited, given the high cost of data in the North. Internet speed and reliability in the NWT becomes a big issue when considering telehealth options. Those who do have cellphones are limited by the high costs of minutes and plans further creating barriers to accessing services.
Another barrier to receiving help is the lack of privacy in our communities. Many individuals are living in multi-generational homes or are in dangerous domestic situations and are afraid of being overheard by their abuser or abusers. We must ensure that privacy and safety issues are considered when trying to connect with people on a therapeutic level. We also need to work harder to gain trust in order to account for the trauma that colonization of Indigenous people has caused. Often, people in need will not contact health centres for fear they will be scrutinized for accessing services for mental health issues. Most prefer face-to-face interaction and are unlikely to leave a voicemail in a general mailbox asking for help.
Providing counselling services through telehealth also creates issues with documentation. We need to advocate and send people for trauma and drug and alcohol residential treatment, all of which requires documentation. Most individuals do not have means to send faxes and/or scan documents to initiate the application process. As trauma counsellors are deemed an essential service under the COVID emergency orders, they are asking that the Minister of Health please consider, for the safety and benefit of people and their communities, to prioritize COVID vaccinations for those therapists and all essential workers who work across the territory. These people work intimately with our northern population in an effort to provide essential services and protect northern residents while providing essential mental health support throughout this pandemic that is escalating the demand for their services. Thank you.