Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. We don't have that information in this budget. It's a budget for the department, not a budget for the authority.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

I don't know how else to put it, but the thing that I'm trying to get is, you know, with the NWT board now having the full authority and the advisory boards that -- there's only a couple authorities -- three authorities the left in the Northwest Territories. Two in Yellowknife, I think it is, and one in Hay River. And maybe -- I don't know if Inuvik has an authority. But the rest are all advisory and they all belong to this NWT board. And since that happened, I'm told by the members of the advisory board in Fort Smith that they don't get monthly financial statements exactly where they stand. So I'm just wondering if the Minister could please be clear on how even an advisory board could ask for different financial statements on a monthly basis at their regular meetings if they're not entitled to know what's going on in those health centres? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there are three health and social services authorities in the NWT. There is the NT Health and Social Services authority, the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, and the Tlicho Community Services Agency. Each of those entities has its own administration, its own budgeting function, its own finance. And so I believe that the Regional Wellness Council, which exists in each of the regions, would have information specific to the region that they could obtain through their local -- their local management. But this is not something that is in this budget.

What you see on page 212 is the block funding that is transferred to each of the health authorities that they use to pay for their expenses. And that's all their expenses. Social services, primary care, doctors, utilities, everything would be in -- would be part of their budget. So it's not in here because it is not part of the department's function. It's up to the health and social services authority. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

Well I guess, Madam Chair, it is a concern to the advisory council in Fort Smith that they don't get financial monthly reports on exactly where the health centre stands. I mean, if I sat on any board or any kind of -- even if it was advisory or whatever, I would be very concerned if I did not get monthly financial statements when they have their meetings. And I think that should be -- should be -- I'd really appreciate if the department would look and make sure that the people that are sitting around the table have access to these kind -- this kind of information. They're not going to be sharing it with the whole community because most of their board meetings are in-camera because of the delicate situations that they're discussing. And so I'm just wondering if that's possible. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the different entities of the health authorities report quarterly on where they stand vis-a-vie their budget with variance reports. And so that means that Fort Smith would need to contribute its information to create the variance report. So my recommendation is that the Regional Wellness Council speak with the COO about obtaining that information on a quarterly basis. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

The other thing I want to talk about is, you know, a lot of the services seem to be more centralized now that we have Stanton. I'm just wondering if the specialists' visits to the regional centres will increase. It's much easier for a lot of our -- especially the large senior population that we have like in the community of Fort Smith. It'll be much easier if a specialist was able to come to the community on a regular basis rather than everybody travelling to Stanton here in Yellowknife. And I just want to see how the Minister feels about that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I recognize that it does present some hardship for elders to travel to Yellowknife for specialist care. But specialist care sometimes requires equipment, exam rooms, specialized nurses to assist in the exam rooms, administration to make the appointments and remind people of them, and so on. And so Stanton is set up to do that. So it's not just a matter of parachuting one person in. It really is a team effort. And so that's the reason that it's offered at Stanton. That's where the resources are. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

I also -- thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to also just talk about aftercare and a detox centre. You know, we have -- I think it's just over a million in aftercare. And it's going to recovery and support community-based addictions recovery. But we really do not have a proper detox centre and aftercare facility in the Northwest Territories. And with all the things that are happening in this past year and during the COVID and afterwards, I think that, you know, the Northwest Territories really requires an aftercare and detox centre. And I just want to see how -- how the Minister feels about this whole situation because it's -- it's not getting any better. It's getting worse. We've had so many suicides and attempted suicides in the South Slave especially, and I'm sure up north too because I -- you know, my area is in South Slave. That's why I'm talking about it. And I'd just like to see something more concrete done with that because it's a major, major problem within our communities, and it's a major problem for all of us here in this House. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. I know the Member has heard what I have to say about this so this time I'm going to ask her if she will listen to the deputy minister talk about what's offered for detox and where. Thank you.

Thank you. Deputy minister.

Thank you. Member for Nunakput.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. No, just in regards to page 198 in regards to program detail child and family services. I do have issues with that in regards to, I guess, I think that the department should be looking at Madam Minister in regards to how do we give our children back to the parents once they're taken into custody? Like, a plan to work with the family instead of them being taken away and the next thing you know they're in long-term care for -- until their 18 years old and then they're forgot about. You know, they're put back out in the public and all the care that they put into them, you know, we failed them that way, that one year of grace in that 18-time period. And I think that we should be really looking at that. But is there a plan in place or to work with the local community governments -- or not local community governments but the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation or the Gwich'in Tribal Council for our youth that's been taken into custody through the social system, and is there a plan to work them back into the community? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. There was a big change in the way child and family services was delivered following the 2018 Office of the Auditor General report, with an emphasis on keeping children with their families and in their communities if at all possible. And in our last annual report, we reported that 92 percent of children stayed in their communities and/or with their family or extended family. So last year, we only had eight percent of children in care who are in the permanent custody of the director. The real advancement in this area is that the IRC has passed its own child and family services law, the Maligaksat, and we have been working with them on an implementation agreement. And it's my understanding that one of the things that will happen with this law is that the IRC itself will administer the voluntary service agreements, which are the agreements that about half of the population of children are covered by. And they cover -- let me just say the basics. So this is a family where the social determinants of health are not very robust and so the voluntary support agreements are the way to support those families. And it'll be the IRC in charge of this program when the implementation agreement is finished.