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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, and I appreciate these questions because one of the things as, like the Member has said, I do support the work that the Office of Client Experience do and the patient advocates. I'm a champion for the work that they do. But we didn't have any actual data on the things that were being brought forward, especially when it came to Indigenous people. We've heard it multiple. We all can stand up in here and say we know that some of these issues. However, like, I'll use, for instance, medical travel. Medical travel, anybody -- I've travelled to most communities. That is one of the biggest issues. It's the understanding of the program, though. It is not a -- you know, and I'm not saying that there is -- there is a problem, but the problem lies within the policy that because it's not an insured service, we use different policy and we use non-insured services to move people around. The escort piece is the biggest piece that we have the most contention with, is the non-medical escorts that have to travel with people. That is something that has to be approved through NIHB, through Ottawa. And we don't have -- like, if it doesn't meet the standard criteria on the policy, all of those have to go to Ottawa. So this is a -- this is also data that's driving us to be able to bring that to NIHB and sit down and say this is our most contention; this policy is not, you know, working for the Northwest Territories and our small and remote communities where we still speak a lot of Indigenous languages, and so we need to do better. So the work that this does is helping us fight that fight. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I appreciate that, but I also understand that many of the concerns being raised are not exclusively related to federal policy or NIHB, including feedback received through the patient experience questionnaire.

Can the Minister explain what is the process for publicly reporting and taking action on the feedback received through the patient experience questionnaire, both this year's and previous years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that the patient experience questionnaire, somebody who's worked in the system for many, many years, that this happens every two to three years. So the questionnaire goes out, and it's through the quality program, and it goes out to anyone on their experience or current experience with the healthcare system. What it does is it comes back and then there's a report -- it is usually public. I think the last one was done in 2022. And what that report -- what it helps to do is work with those areas with the executive team and to work within those areas to try and improve those areas. And so that's generally how it goes. And it also helps us to build that for business plans. Like, if the -- NTHSSA is coming forward because there's something that we're lacking, then that evidence, also those questionnaires, the data from the public can help generate some of that work. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll just note I was looking online for a report from any previous patient experience questionnaires and couldn't find any. So if the Minister can direct us to that, that would be great.

I was also looking in annual reports of the health authority, and the last time that there was detailed statistical reporting on performance measures, including patient satisfaction, was 2019 and 2020. Will the minister direct the health authority to resume detailed reporting on patient satisfaction and patient outcomes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I will do is I will have a conversation with NTHSSA as to what has happened and what has changed, and I can report back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following on my Member's statement, we have a lot of people of all ages going for treatment for alcohol and or drug abuse. There's a lot of people from my community, my region, go out to, as far away to Toronto for up to six weeks, and upon the return they're going back into their same old habits, they have no resources to go to. There's absolutely no help and some of these people are falling back into their old habits within a week or so. It would be good if the government can follow through and make some of these programs available in our, especially in our smaller communities. So how can we as a government ensure that we are not setting up our people for failure by sending them to another jurisdiction for treatment to heal themselves but bringing them back to an environment that made them sick. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for Health and social services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in order for a resident of the Northwest Territories to attend a treatment facility, they have to be referred by a caseworker, a caseworker who works with them. That caseworker also creates an aftercare plan for when they return home and then before they're discharged, they are to communicate with the -- that is part of the work that happens and, you know, and so I encourage that if residents are returning back to their community, to speak with the caseworker that has referred them out because that is part of it. And if the Member has, you know, residents that want to, you know, have this looked into as to why, he can feel free to reach out to my office and we can work together as to what is being missed, because my understanding is that that is a whole part of the referral process, is the aftercare plan coming home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank the Minister for that opportunity. I'll be taking her advice and reaching out to her. It's been a long time. There is people going out and not following through or don't have the capacity or don't have the resources to reach out to. How long is it going to take us, take for us to move forward and support our people who are crying for help to move forward and break the cycles instead of taking steps backwards because of the lack of resources, especially in our smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have done as a government with feedback from Indigenous and small communities is that we've created the Community Mental Health Awareness Fund, which is something that it incorporates for the Indigenous governments have an opportunity to apply on funding to run their own types of programs, wellness programs, recovery programs, anything that their community chooses to. Then once the initial period is open for regional Indigenous governments, after, I think it's January 31st, I can get the details and send it to the Members on this, but it opens up to everybody else. So for February and March, whatever the funds are left in that community, that community organization that's tied to an Indigenous Friendship Centre. We've funded Friendship Centres in some of the communities in the past. We've funded GTC in the past. We've funded Tetlit Gwich'in to run programs in those communities however this year, we haven't received any applications from the Member's riding. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll reach out to Members of my three communities and see if they can allocate some funding. How can we work in collaboration to provide what is needed for the residents of the Mackenzie Delta in regards to addictions and aftercare and for funding and resources to be made available within our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Beaufort Delta was the first to be reviewed under the community counselling program, and so what they have done is they've done a collaboration where they pull the Indigenous governments and the community counselling program together to be able to serve people and hire people with lived experience to be able to provide those services. I know we are working with -- we are currently working in the Sahtu through that process as well, and we're hoping that we'll get through the rest of the territory, because it's designed on servicing the region, the people, and what their needs are. However, I understand, you know, that there's always issues when it comes to when people are in crisis, but what I can do is I can put together the information for the Member and if I can, I'll see how much detail we have to be able to put it together for the region. I know we don't have it broken down just for Mackenzie Delta, but it might be the regional process. We have the THARP that will be opening up, which is a transitional housing and after addiction recovery home, that will be opening up soon. I know all the construction is done now, and it's just waiting on the operator and the policies to be done in Inuvik, which would help for those coming back to be able to stay there before going off to their community to give them that little bit longer support. So, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given that seniors currently receive a $1,000 monthly income deduction when calculating rent, what is preventing the GNWT from going further and eliminating rent entirely for seniors in public housing? Mr. Speaker, I am serious about this question; I don't want no chuckle. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm just thinking about the question, Mr. Speaker, and how can we eliminate rent for seniors in the Northwest Territories? Understanding the situation we're in for Housing NWT, we have about $13 million in rental arrears across the North. That's the situation right now. And in order to build new homes and maintain what we have, people need to pay their rent. Understanding many times elders are taking on the burden of the entire family, there is considerations and that a $1,000 rental reduction each month, based on their income, is what's provided to elders at this time. There's a lot of work that we have to do as Housing NWT, especially with our strategic renewal and looking, moving forward with compromise agreements. But, again, these are the discussions we need to have, and these are the questions that are asked by the Members. So, at this time I don't have a solution, but I just want to give this House an idea of how much rental arrears across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some of the arrears are from old housing policy. Mr. Speaker, how does the GNWT ensure that the current rate calculation formula based on household income over age 19 fairly reflects the financial realities of seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes and face rising costs for essentials? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again rent is based on income, so this is gross income of the household so it's not only the elder or senior in the house, it's the entire household, the working income or the income of the household. So there's sometimes difficulty with seniors because they take the burden on, again, of the entire household and don't get the support from other working members of the household. So again, another difficult situation. But Housing NWT right now is reviewing the rental scale, and we hope to have more comments from Members of this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to a review, she said she is, but of the public housing program to explore rent-free option for seniors, especially in light of growing concerns about affordability and aging in place. Thank you.