Bob Bromley

WHEREAS the population of the Northwest Territories is ageing, with the proportion of seniors of the general population rising by about 8 percent annually;

AND WHEREAS the waiting lists in the NWT for extended care facilities are long and getting longer, with urgent current and future need for services for seniors in both large and small communities;

AND WHEREAS the numbers of seniors living in Yellowknife will triple by 2031, and the number of beds needed may parallel this increase here and throughout the NWT;

AND WHEREAS there is a projected shortfall in the NWT of 200 long-term care beds and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I would be interested in a few more details generally on what the $40 million will be used for this year and do you know what area of the hospital we’d be starting with in terms of helping people get ready as Mr. Heath mentioned.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had a question on the electronic medical records. I know the Minister has been mentioning how advanced we are in this area. He also did mention there were a couple, I think with regard to Stanton, issues, but I’d like to get it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. So if I could get some information on what the issues are that are remaining in the implementation of electronic medical records in Yellowknife and where we are with the whole project territory-wide. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a couple of questions here. First of all, the Child and Family Information System. I agree, totally needed. It was called for in the 16th Assembly. I know the Minister is aware. Just looking at the layout of this, considerable funds are available in this fiscal year. We’re proposing considerable funds in the year under consideration, that’s ’15-16, and then they extend into the following year, so that’s a three-year implementation of what seems like a fairly straightforward system that I know every jurisdiction in Canada must have. This is started in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly this doesn’t fit with what I’m hearing. In the real world, the introduction of a large, complex program such as JK would be expected to generate some complaints, both with a philosophy of the program’s mechanics of its implementation.

Does the Minister still insist that there have been zero complaints from the implementation of Junior Kindergarten across the NWT, with the exception of that raised by the Member from Mackenzie Delta, or if not, what are some of the complaints and how have they been dealt with? Mahsi.

I would suggest that these complaints go way beyond what the Minister is suggesting how we can improve the program. These are issues with the current implementation. We have seen the public consultative process design for the feedback on the devolution process. Basically, go to our website and send us a note.

What is the process in place for ECE to gather, catalogue and respond to complaints from early childhood education workers and the public about start-up and emerging problems with Junior Kindergarten in the NWT, or do we not have one?

When will the public learn how long we will be contracting out the operation of our Stanton Territorial Hospital?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An exciting movement is gaining momentum in Canada, growing from a seed planted right here in the Weledeh riding of Yellowknife. Weledeh and other territorial youth approached former Premier Stephen Kakfwi with a new vision for the relationship between Canada and First Nations, a chance to redefine the partnership between those who settled here and those who welcomed them. This movement is called Canadians for a New Partnership.

Composed of exceptional leaders from across Canada, including former Prime Ministers and Premiers and obviously our own former Premier Kakfwi...

Thanks for that confirmation by the Minister. So, what are the long-term consequences of this P3 project? Can you describe what the ramifications are to Stanton public infrastructure, its operation and maintenance, potentially, over the course of time?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it’s understood and I think the Ministers would agree that public infrastructure is generally cheaper because there is not a profit motive. In this case, bringing in a private enterprise, there is a profit motive. Motivation for doing this is that we are short on capital and this is a mechanism to get around that. But it is more expensive than a public project, so I just want to confirm that that’s the reasoning for going for a P3 here. Thank you.