N.W.T. gov't to dissolve health authority's leadership board
CBC
The N.W.T. government has announced it will dissolve the leadership council that oversees the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority and replace it with a public administrator.
The council is basically the board that manages the health authority. It has nine members, who are accountable to the minister of Health and Social Services and who are supposed to direct the health authority's affairs and advise the minister on priorities and strategic direction. It will be dissolved as of Dec. 16.
In a news release Tuesday, the government stated the leadership council's role and structure "has not proven to fit the rapidly evolving and challenging needs of the current health and social services system, nor within the broader context of the [N.W.T. government]."
It said a public administrator would be able to operate independently in times of financial or operational challenges.
It said Dan Florizone will be appointed as public administrator and described him as a "former senior executive" who spent 30 years in Saskatchewan in various health leadership roles. He also spent time as a deputy minister for Nunavut's health department.
It said no N.W.T.-based candidates could be identified for the position.
A public administrator will be more "nimble" than the leadership council, according to the press release.
The NTHSSA was established in 2016. It inherited a deficit of $51 million, and in 2020 that had grown to $94 million. As of March 31, 2024, the authority's accumulated deficit stood at $272.9 million.
In October this year, Premier R.J. Simpson announced a new team that's focused on reining in health-care spending.
Regional wellness councils will now be providing feedback to Florizone and Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler directly, instead of to the council.
"By establishing strong, focused leadership, we aim to address longstanding challenges within the system and lay a more resilient foundation for the future," Semmler stated in the news release.
She added the decision isn't a reflection of any failing on the part of the council's members or the health authority.
The Ontario Provincial Police’s conclusion of no wrongdoing by Toronto police officers accused of collusion in a high-profile murder trial is being called into question by a reconstruction expert and the former director of the Special Investigations Unit.
A group of landowners fighting the construction of a massive motorsport racing resort northeast of Calgary have had a victory in court.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford congratulated a homeowner who shot and injured an alleged home invader in Vaughan, Ont., this week, saying intruders "need to be shot."
B.C. Sports Hall of Fame relocates hundreds of thousands of artifacts to make way for FIFA World Cup
From century-old provincial senior men's baseball jerseys to a keeper Lombardi Trophy won by a Kamloops-born Super Bowl-winning punter, the vast majority of B.C.'s premier sports artifacts won't be on display when the FIFA World Cup comes to town.
Two Sudbury domes used for various sports during the winter months collapsed after a winter storm dropped upwards of 40 centimetres of snow.
Police in Nova Scotia say a teen in Bridgewater and a youth from Manitoba have been arrested for allegedly planning simultaneous attacks at their local schools.
In the provincial budget released on Tuesday, tourism funding increased overall, but a few individual sites ended up on a list of cuts.
The owner of an Old Montreal building where seven people died in a 2023 fire is being charged with seven counts of manslaughter.
With no current plans to open new in-person rapid access to addiction medicine clinics, a woman who lost her brother to an overdose worries Manitoba's government is not doing enough to prevent substance-related deaths.
Gurpreet Singh, a 40-year-old Indian national, is suing the Canadian government and employees of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), alleging they prosecuted him maliciously and violated his charter rights.
Edmonton orthopedic surgeons are warning of widespread surgery cancellations in coming weeks due to a funding dispute over how Alberta compensates another group of hospital doctors.
Advocates fear the looming closure of the Niagara Region's sole safe drug consumption site will result in a spike in overdose deaths and cases of blood-borne infections such as hepatitis C and HIV.
A potential sightseeing gondola overlooking Canmore is returning for a new stage of engagement under Alberta's All-Season Resorts Act.