The Member is correct in her statement. She did recognize that the implementation and the funding has not been worked out. We are still in the process of waiting for the federal government to have a meeting. There was a meeting scheduled, an FTP for last month, and it has been rescheduled. Although we recognize that the legislation is place, we still need to work on what does that mean for the Northwest Territories.

DEPUTY SPEAKER. Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre, final supplementary.

Yes, that's correct. The Northwest Territories Child and Family Services Act and the federal act recognize the need to deliver culturally appropriate services by decisions concerning the children are made in the best interests of the child, taking into consideration cultural values and practices. Also, each community has a role in supporting and promoting the best interests of the children, and the wellbeing of the families and the communities. Yes. They are in line, and some of the principles that we have are in line.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Child and Family Service Act and the federal Bill C92, and the child and family services in the Northwest Territories act is in line with the principles of the federal act. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We all want better health for our families and communities. The choices we make are important for our overall health and well-being. By eating good, being physically active, reducing the amount of alcohol we drink, living tobacco-free, and making healthy choices, we can help reduce the risk of getting chronic disease like cancer.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and it is important that we talk about it. Over the past few decades, we have learned more about cancer, which is resulting in more people surviving than ever before. This is why it is important to observe cancer awareness months.

Madam Speaker, this month is Colorectal Awareness Month, and it is dedicated to raising awareness about colorectal cancer and honouring those who have been affected by this disease. Colorectal cancer is preventable; it's treatable. Yet here in the Northwest Territories, the incidence of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer is twice the rate than in the rest of Canada. Many people are unaware that they can reduce the risk of getting it with timely screening and healthy lifestyles.

Madam Speaker, the best protection we have against colorectal cancer is early detection. Taking a fecal immunochemical test, or FIT test, is the easiest way for Northwest Territories residents to learn if they are at risk of colorectal cancer. In an effort to improve screening and early detection, "one and done" FIT screening is an effort to improve screening and early detection. It was introduced in 2018. This approach makes it easier for people to collect a sample at home and return it to their healthcare provider. The FIT test, which you can easily do at home, is recommended for residents ages 50 to 74 and should be completed at least every two years.

To increase screening rates for colorectal cancer in our territory, Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority just launched a pilot project in February to mail FIT screening kits to eligible residents. The pilot project focuses on the Beaufort-Delta region. If the approach is successful, it will be expanded across the territory. Our aim is to increase the participation screening rate to meet the national goal of 60 percent.

Madam Speaker, we have also distributed community cancer awareness kits to community health representatives. Health care staff can use these comprehensive kits in their communities to raise awareness and have conversations with residents about the importance of early screening and healthy living.

In February, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority also launched two educational cancer videos. Part of the seven series, these videos aim to help residents better understand cancer and the importance of screening in the NWT. These videos were created in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services and the University of Alberta's Indigenous and Global Health Research group. The videos were developed through community consultations in the Northwest Territories, incorporated feedback from community members in Fort Good Hope, Inuvik, and Yellowknife. Residents can view them on the website, cancernwt.ca. The videos were also distributed to the health centres for use and will be promoted on social media.

While it is important to improve screening rates and to communicate directly about cancer with Northwest Territories residents, it is also critical that we support those patients who are battling cancer right now. We know that the emotional and physical effects of cancer can make it difficult for patients to process information. To help support patients and families, the NWT Health Authority has hired and trained two full-time cancer Nurse Navigators. The Nurse Navigators are specially trained to help patients and their families through their cancer journey.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I want to encourage all residents, particularly those aged 50 to 74, to speak to their health care providers about getting screened. Let us work together to promote healthy living, reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and other cancers, and support those who are living with it. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I hear the Member's concern. One of the difficulties we have in our communities is the hiring, like finding the specialized nurses and the doctors or whoever it may be. They find the cost of living is quite high. Finding them housing is another challenge. These are challenges that we get right across the whole Northwest Territories. I hear the Member's concern about having specialized nurses or doctors come more frequently in the community. We need to look at that. That is important. Now, you find in some of the smaller communities, they just go make appointments on their own at bigger centres because they don't want to have these wait times. We see that. We know this is happening, and we need to do a better job as a department to recognize that and be able to look at different ways of making sure our patients are seen more quickly. That is important.

I would like to speak about the Member's previous concern about the recruitment. What we are doing as a department is we are developing three talent pools in order for recruitment. One is for the health and social service professionals, which includes the nurses; we are also doing one for physicians and also one for students. We want to engage students and youth earlier so we can get them engaged and seeking employees for the future. These are some of things that we are doing, we are looking to do, as a result of achieving our mandate. There are a lot of different things that we need to look to our departments to come up with faster ways so that our patients have better quality services. Even our regional staff, I am just told recently that some of our regional staff don't even have staff to lend, as I look across the floor, and it is true. We need to start looking at all of the different centres and the regions and making sure that we have enough resources in the centres to be able to have patient care. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do want to talk a little bit about what we are proposing to do around medical detox. The department is exploring some options for medical detox in the Northwest Territories. We are in the process of developing a terms of reference for some of the consultation and research. We will be consulting with residents and Indigenous organizations, as well as healthcare providers, and in addition to that, having a jurisdictional scan to see how detox is offered in other provinces or territories and research some of the best practices for the delivery of medical detox.

Once this has been determined, reviewing the results of our research, and then consult and identify options to move forward for the delivery of medical detox, whether it is through a centralized facility or by using our health centres or other creative options. I mean, that is the whole intent of doing a jurisdictional scan is to find best options and have a look at them and just really come up with an implementation plan. Those are some of the things that our department is doing in terms of the medical detox.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do want to talk about the facility-based addiction treatments we have in the South. We have four that we work with currently. It is the Poundmaker's Lodge, which is located in St. Albert. We also have the Fresh Start Recovery Centre, which is in Calgary. We also have the Aventa treatment centre for women, which also is in Calgary, and we have the Edgewood Treatment Centre, which is in Nanaimo. This is something, our continued partnership with the facilities in the South, and it is important to know that, as we look at the mandate, bringing services closer to home, if there is a model out there that our department can mirror to bring that closer to home, then definitely that is something our department will look into. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I was looking at my notes. The locations have not been determined yet, but it is something that we would have to do a needs assessment. Although it is in our timeline and in our mandate to be able to look at, "Okay. Where is it best suited for individuals?" and again, working with my colleagues in housing, because this is infrastructure, transitional housing, so I understand that we recognize it as a priority. We just need to do further work in finding out where are the best locations, who is the target group, so that is work that we need to do, Madam Chair.

To maybe just go back to the first question on the availability of the models is the examining models before determining locations to answer the first question. I do want to talk about the transitional housing options. The department will review leading practices and research on transitional housing models, aimed at supporting individuals returning from facility-based addictions treatments. That means consulting with communities, Indigenous leaders, to identify regional and community needs for transitional housing.

We will also be doing a needs assessment with individuals who are attending these facilities for their treatments to better understand their barriers to housing, recovery, and then develop some options for partnerships with other governments. We talked about there are so many times when we have our clients come out of treatment and there is nothing for them afterwards. This is something the department needs to work with other departments: income support, housing. It is a full-approach model. We also see this work as a priority because the availability of the safe sobriety housing is also a key piece in the recovery. Although our locations are not yet determined, it is just looking at individual needs as they come out of facilities. Thank you.