Bob Bromley

Thank you. A strange kind of priority when we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on other projects and dragging this out over the decades. Because this is an operating and jam-packed hospital, carrying out the renovation during hospital hours will be difficult.

Does the Minister anticipate any extraordinary costs resulting from having to refer patients to southern institutions when wards, operating theatres, clinics, diagnostic and other facilities are closed for renovation? Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think we’re getting some nice crunchy comments here. Thanks to the Minister for the opening statement here.

We recently took over utilities for all government infrastructure, and I didn’t hear anything on what the real opportunities and efficiencies are that we’re realizing here, locating problems where utilities are clearly over what they should be and so on, reducing costs, so what have we learned on that front.

The $8 million on operations and capital expenditure to deal with our maintenance deficit; somehow that’s magic. We’re only spending $8 million and suddenly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement with questions to the Minister of Finance on the Stanton Hospital. We put tens of millions of dollars into a Fort Smith hospital and a Hay River hospital, and now, when we should finally be going after the long overdue Stanton Territorial facility, what are we doing? We’re building new highways on the most costly terrain known, paying off poorly-thought-out bridge infrastructure and pursuing other new and expensive projects.

I’d like a clear commitment from the Minister that this fall’s capital budget will contain a proposal...

I realize that there are a whole lot of aspects to this subject and so it’s not possible to discuss it all in this format. Maybe just one last question. The Minister will recall the recommendations that we move from a confrontational, almost legalistic approach, to a more dispute resolution, negotiation counselling approach. Has the Minister found opportunities to work in that direction in the area of child and family services?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The urgent need for a complete restructuring at Stanton Territorial Hospital has been under review since before the last Assembly. We’ve patched cracks and tinkered with failing and mouldy systems for too long. It’s time to get serious.

Emergency physician and current CMA president Anna Reid has been quoted as saying, “there is no place in emerg for doctors to privately use a phone, not even enough surface space for a doctor to sit and fill out paperwork.” That’s the critical care portal at Stanton Territorial.

Patients wheel through the waiting room to X-ray, there’s...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister and deputy minister. I think those comments are very useful and help fill in my understanding.

I guess my last question is, you know, I frequently heard that we need… I’m sorry. I don’t know the terminology, but is it a forensic psychiatrist or somebody who’s able to do the assessments and so on for a mental health court to be workable. Where are we on that? On having those talents ready and available within our government.

Thanks for those remarks from the Minister. I know Health is working with the Department of Justice, as well, and there are some other programs in that department working on this initiative.

I guess, just on the mental health side, I was happy to see that there is now some attempt to fund the Mental Health Action Plan that resulted from the extensive review that was done. Can this Minister tell me if that will address the needs for assessment and diagnosis and care that would be required out of mental health court, the services that would be required for a mental health court in the Northwest...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to ask a little bit about the family violence and counselling. I know we’ve had our third, sort of, Phase 3 recommendations on this area, and this year we weren’t able to advance on all of those but I think there was general agreement to them as priorities. Could I just get, maybe, an update on what we’re proposing to do in this fiscal year under consideration here in the way of addressing family violence and the Family Violence Plan, Phase 3.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. I take his point there. My concern remains for Stanton. As the Minister knows, we had a tour of Stanton not so long ago, a matter of days or a couple weeks. I think there are some real obvious difficulties there. I guess I’m asking, how are we handling that situation and how is it not reflected in this when it’s clear that there’s a very inefficient delivery of health services at Stanton. Our needs are increasing. I think it was something like 20,000 when it was designed for 10,000 visits and it’s actually handling 20,000 visits now. If I could get...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to follow up on a couple of things on the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative. The Minister mentioned that was coming to an end. He’s responsible for negotiating, hopefully, a new one. What fiscal year does it end, will it no longer be active?