As the Minister indicated, this is a strong issue, but I think we need to improve. I think we need to set that standard of what we have to a minimum amount. I think where it’s needed we need to put the financial backing towards it.

My question is: Would the Minister approve overtime or additional counselling to get areas like Hay River that are three to four months away when we have some regions that only have two weeks or sometimes there isn’t a wait list? Is there a way that we can deal with this immediate situation of the three to four month wait lists?

The information I get, too, is immediate action is being dealt with. We have a 1-800 number. We have people dealing with the emergency situations. The Minister indicated three to four months.

Is the Minister willing to commit to a standard level where you should be able to see a counsellor within 30 days or 45 days? Can we set a standard level that you should be able to see a counsellor within 30 days or 45 days. Can we set a standard and try to meet that goal?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will follow up from my Member’s statement with questions on mental health from our mental health theme day. I will take up the challenge on the Mental Health First Aid the Minister alluded to and I’d like to find out more information on when that would happen.

The first question I have is: Does the Minister have the wait times to see a mental health and addictions counsellor in the Hay River area? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will talk about mental illness. Obviously, some Members have already spoken on that.

Nationally, we have Clara Hughes who did a bike ride to bring light to this issue. Even famous people like Howie Mandel have come out with some of their issues. One of the things he said was… If I told you, Mr. Speaker, this afternoon that I had to go to a dentist, you would probably not blink an eye about that and allow me to do that, but if I had to tell you that I had to go see my psychologist or psychiatrist or my counsellor, you may have a different situation.

This is something we need to work on strongly, especially when we know that some of the statistics in the North are rising. We’ve had the opportunity in Hay River to have a revamp of our mental health. We have new counsellors. We have a better system. We have a couple of addiction wellness counsellors who are helping us out. But as we stir the pot, as we bring up some of these issues to people, there’s more and more demand, and now we’re experiencing that in some of the communities and some of those people that we’ve brought up.

We’ve had opportunities to have a couple of group sessions and stuff like that, but now the demand is so great on those counsellors and that organization, we have to look at putting more money into this organization to deal with mental illness throughout the Northwest Territories.

I know it’s a daunting task, especially with the pressures we have financially, but it’s something we have to continue to work at, to strive at, to get more counsellors, to get more help for the people that are needing it in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Tabled Document 188-17(5), NWT Main Estimates 2015-2016, and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Most of the comments have been made. I guess I just wanted to make a few comments relative to Hay River. Obviously, we’re excited about the new health centre coming on board this coming year. We’re excited to see the Midwifery Program being implemented. One thing that’s really helped me recently as an MLA is the system navigator and the go-to person to a lot of the issues that some of my

constituents have been having. It seems like we’ve been getting a lot of success that way. At least people getting contacted and being connected with the department. I’m not sure how the system works as far as dealing with individual people, but sometimes people feel like they’ve been left out or not communicated with, and through the system navigator it seems like we’ve been able to get responses to people right away. Maybe not exactly where they want to be on a list for surgery or a list of when they’re going to get their special examinations or whatever, but at least they know exactly where they stand.

I know we’ve been working on a cancer navigator or looking at that. I think that’s going forward. I think that’s a way to deal with the public a lot more. I mean, that’s probably a good percentage of our job in the fact that we see a lot of concerns from different people on the system and how they deal with them, especially ones that are from people from the communities feel like a lot of times they have to come to Yellowknife or to Edmonton and where they sit on the list and when that would be expected.

Those people that have been travelling, I’ve been hearing lots of good things about the two homes that we have in Yellowknife and in Edmonton. Even speaking to a constituent this afternoon, one constituent was pleased. He was just in Edmonton and he was very pleased with the service and responsiveness that he got while staying there. I’ve heard that several times, so I just wanted to pass that on to the department.

Several Members have talked about on-the-land programs, and we’ve heard this concern in Hay River. I’m just not sure if the department is waiting for a proponent to drive some of these programs or is the department going forward and looking for proponents in different regions. That would be a concern of mine. I’m not sure if we have a proponent in Hay River that would necessarily be taking an on-the-land program, but would the department be looking at ways of implementing that through somebody or through different organizations and bodies?

There have been quite a few people talking about the closure of the addictions facility on the Hay River Reserve. Obviously, we’re concerned about that. A lot of people, when it did close, had an explanation from the department where it was but the department was looking for other opportunities for that facility. It’s a beautiful facility. It’s a great asset the GNWT owns, and we should be using that asset and getting that back into the inventory, and I’m assuming it’s going to be in our health system to benefit that. I think Members have spoken, whether it’s a diabetes clinic or mental health, that type of stuff. We need to use that asset

that we have on Nats'ejee K'eh to the maximum. For it to sit there empty is a complete waste.

Speaking of the mental health, we’ve been hearing issues recently in the Hay River area now that we’re getting more successful identifying some of the problems that we have in our communities related to mental health, we’re having wait-lists. We’re having people having to wait a long period of time. Some of that is maybe because I’m not sure if we really have enough staff in that area or if we’re not willing to pay overtime, but I mean, it’s definitely an issue that’s out there. If those wait times are getting longer and longer there are a lot of people that are in pain and suffering through this mental health stuff, so I think we need to address that where we’re seeing long wait times in communities such as Hay River.

I know we’ve talked with the Minister and I know the Minister has been to Hay River to talk about the one health authority. Obviously, we have some strong interest in that. I think we want to see some representation from the region and from different people other than just one individual, our public administrator, who is doing a good job, but I think the community wants to be able to contact several people or get kind of a group or a regional concept of what we want to do with our authority. I think that part of it is very positive. Obviously, the big question mark is how do we plan to move forward with the Hay River Health Authority and its staff obviously protecting their interests but also being able to create this one authority, and obviously the staff not being GNWT is an issue going forward. I think the Minister is well aware of that, and we need to assess the complete cost to that.

Those are my main issues with the Department of Health right now, and I’ll leave it at that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Late last week the Hay Walkers arrived in

Tuktoyaktuk

.

As you know, we weren’t there, you were there, we didn’t see you there. But, I’m talking about the NWT Recreation and Parks Association.

I know you were in Tuk, but we weren’t there.

The NWT Rec and Parks Association has a walk from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk. It promotes healthy living, walking, exercising, especially in this bad time when the weather is tough. But there’s a bunch of teams out there. There are 188 teams out there throughout the Northwest Territories walking right now.

I’d like to say we were the first team to arrive, but I think there have been at least 55 teams that have arrived to Tuktoyaktuk already, and some of them are racing on the way back. I know we’re committed to walking back and hot on the heels of Happy Feet, one of our team captains, Tom Makepeace’s wife’s team, so we’re in a little bit of a race with them, trying to catch up.

Mr. Speaker, these teams come from all the way from the Far North, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, all the way to Tsiigehtchic, Norman Wells, all the way down the valley, Nahanni Butte, Fort Liard, Fort Smith, Hay River, Yellowknife. All over the Northwest Territories there are thousands of people walking, getting their steps in, whether it’s walking their dog, or just committing to being out in the North and doing exercise. Many of these teams are school teams. Many of them are seniors’ groups. Many are friends and families getting together and

just challenging each other, get your hours in, get your time in.

We are sad to say that the Walk to Tuk didn’t win the Play Exchange Challenge, the national challenge that we voted on, but we know that’s not from the spirit that we have but just because Quebec had bigger numbers. Good luck to everybody. Keep walking. Thank you.

I guess the question is: How do I support Bill 44 if I can’t ask the Minister how the Hay River Health Authority is going to be implemented? I guess my question is: Is there a framework that will be implemented to structure Hay River Health Authority in before or after the bill?

I guess the question is: When would the Minister be coming down to Hay River to discuss this issue?