Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I'm correct when I say I know there's pharmacists in Inuvik, obviously Yellowknife, I believe in Hay River, I believe in Fort Smith, and maybe a couple other places but I couldn't guarantee you. But the point is there's pharmacists that could help support and buttress the health care system. Would the Minister be willing to ensure that the scope of practice for pharmacists is expanded to take care of those types of services I highlighted? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, to the Member, I agree, and that is why I think it's so important that this piece of legislation is also something that we do review, and I believe that when I speak about the right people doing the right thing, and I think the pharmacies have a role to play in our health care system, and so I do believe that it is very important that they are working at their scope of practice too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I look at the pharmacists' scope of practice across Canada, I see a lot of nos in the NWT category in comparison to others. So could the Minister reiterate her answer a little more clearer in a manner of sense whereas will she ensure that those issues I highlighted - drugs, vaccines, and further scope of practice considerations - be included in the upcoming act review? Thank you.

As I stated in my -- I have committed. I will commit to having those things. There are -- you know, there are -- like the Member said, the pharmacists that are in the regional centres and the capital and having to collaborate and provide services, you know, to also to the health centres, so it is very important, and I know that we are looking at being able to provide that service and to be able to have a platform so that way when you are accessing services, which we all do in the territory, as I do when I'm here, I need to make sure that when I'm accessing a pharmacy in Yellowknife or in Inuvik or in Hay River that we're all talking. So those are things that need to be also put in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess the only area of concern in my last question is making sure that our archaic legislation will be comparable to other places. We don't have to be Alberta or Ontario but, that said, we need to be innovative and we have to create that innovation. Mr. Speaker, that's the question. Is the Minister able to work with Members and the pharmacy community to ensure we have innovation at the moment the act is open because it may be a decade before it's revisited? Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I do agree in that, you know, once the legislation, you know, is completed and that is part of the legislation, is being able to work with the Regular Members and being able to hear from the residents of the Northwest Territories, and that includes all the pharmacists in the Northwest Territories. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.

Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member. The Department of Health and Social Services has the department of health promotion and communication units are constantly creating and updating northern health promotion education material online and physically across the Northwest Territories. So if the Member has certain material that she is referring to or communities that -- you know, that are unable to access this information, I would like to work with the Member to make sure that her communities or any communities have this information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister confirm if there are ways where previously successful modes of health promotion, like posters or pamphlets, will be utilized in 2024 and within the 20th Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that health promotion continuously -- you know, they have health promotion on a lot of different areas. They do have posters. They do have websites. They have online material. I know they do social media campaigns. So if there's specific things that we're not targeting, like I'd like to hear from the Member. And I'll just leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister confirm whether the department considers that GNWT's efforts of health promotion have been effective and produce positive results for our residents? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that data but what I do know is that, you know, people that work in health promotion in the different regions, they have the resources that they -- you know, that they will use to provide education. Some communities have community health reps that have this education. Some, the information is at the health centres. In the regional centres, we have public health, public health units that work in this area. But also the Indigenous governments do a lot of their own, like in different areas of health promotion. They have their own resources that they also provide. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Resources that I was looking for was the long-term effects of drug use, specifically hard drugs that are in our communities; long-term effects of alcohol use just so people are informed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for that. And I will get back to the department to see what types of information that they have, especially related to those. Hard drugs and illicit drugs is something that is -- you know, we've all said it in this House that it's going through our communities, and people are requesting resources. So that is something I can commit to making sure that we have stuff for -- especially for the small communities. But not just small communities. For everyone. And there are a lot of alcohol -- the impacts of alcohol resources. So I will reach out -- like, I will have the department look into it and reach out to the people that provide the services, especially in the small communities, regional centres, and here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my question now is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. So in terms of what we often refer to as detox, local doctors have told me that right now we do a patchwork job of offering inpatient withdrawal management at Stanton but only to those with significant medical risks, which is actually very few of the patients who would actually benefit from a withdrawal management program.

Has the Department of Health and Social Services examined what resources would be needed for us to offer a comprehensive withdrawal management and addictions program for all those patients who need it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this question, you know, in regards to the announcement that we made last week, is a great question to be able to answer that patchwork within the Northwest Territories because, you know, I think we've been managing what we can up until, you know, now, and now we're seeing more and more different types of drugs and, you know, we've had the alcohol detox. And, yes, they have been just managed case by case up until now but with the new recent funding, there is -- this is contributing to the creation of a territorial substance use medicine team that includes inpatient and community care components to enhance coordination and the delivery of service for residents seeking help for substance use, including alcohol withdrawal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'm encouraged that this is on the radar and we're heading this direction. My question is whether the Minister or the staff at Health and Social Services have considered incorporating some aspects of the best practice models in comprehensive withdrawal management programs, such as the model based out of Sudbury or Edmonton, the addiction recovery community health program there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't speak to what they've looked at and what the department has reviewed and to the two that the Member has mentioned. But what I can do is the team that is working on the detox, on the territorial substance use medicine team, is looking at a territorial -- what will fit best in the Northwest Territories. So I think we've said it here many, many times that we are an extraordinary territory and we have -- we reach very -- we have very long arms in the territory, and so we need a program that's going to fit the needs of the Northwest Territories and be able to support small communities, regional centres, and Yellowknife, and the residents that need the service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.