Bob McLeod

As a government, we like charettes. We like them so much that we held a charette in 2012, a charette in 2014, and we also funded a remote microgrid conference here in Yellowknife in September 2015. So that, coupled with the engagement process that is under way now, is a strong indication of how committed we are. Certainly I understand there is a proposal that has been submitted and was recently received on January 24th; we will certainly look at that. I am certainly interested in learning more details around the proposed charette and what new information would we get beyond the findings of the...

I'll be pleased to do so. When the previous government negotiated or imposed a 10-year health accord on all of the governments of Canada, the provincial and territorial governments, there was a 6 per cent increase. It would drop to 3 per cent after 10 years. We've reached that point. This new federal government has continued with that. They've accepted what the previous federal government did. The basis for that decrease from 6 per cent to 3 per cent was to provide for more efficiencies, become more effective through innovation and governance.

We had a territorial health investment fund that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there is operation and maintenance costs required, it will come from within the government's budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not sure what $7.4 million she's referring to. I think she's referring to targeted funding of home care that the federal government raised. We spend approximately $420 million. We also get funding through the Healthcare Act which is provided on a per capita basis, which, on a per capita basis for the Northwest Territories, works out to about $40 million. This year, because the federal government reduced the healthcare funding percentages to 3 per cent, they offered targeted funding of $13.5 million over ten years for home care and for mental health. We still have to work with the federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know what channel the Member was watching yesterday, but I certainly didn't say that. We walked away because they offered us zero on the territorial health funding, and we obviously settled because they offered more. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The largest part of our healthcare funding comes through the formula financing, and through that process, we already spend for extended care. We already spend long-term care, and we would have to use that process, whatever success we have in accessing the social infrastructure programs of the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is asking me to speculate on future events. Certainly, at the appropriate time, we will deal with the issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The healthcare funding was not intended to provide for that. The federal government provided $7.4 million over 10 years from homecare, and we're still waiting for them to tell us how they wanted to spend that targeted funding. The housing for seniors over the long term will have to come out of whatever funding that our government comes up with and whatever federal government funding we can access through the social infrastructure funding.

The federal government said, "Take it or leave it." We didn't take it until they came back and offered more.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I will have to clarify what actually happened at the consultation. I was hearing that those who attended from Yellowknife were supportive of a carbon tax, and similarly in Fort Smith. I will have to clarify what exactly came out at those meetings. As I have said, we have written to committee and offered a briefing. At that time, I see it as a start of developing. We will have the results of the consultations by that time.

The Government of Canada has indicated that their federal budget will be out early in February, so I expect probably within the next week or so...