Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, part of it is a request we make of the corporation. We request a dividend on an annual basis, and then we top it up from general revenue for the rest of the program. In fact, in the last few years of the budget it has been $3.5 million from the Power Corporation. The rest has been from general revenues of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The relationship is spelled out, initially, quite clearly in the territorial health and social services act — the relationship between the authorities and the Department of Health and Social Services.

At times, working with authorities, the department would initiate new programs and program delivery. Telehealth was one the department initiated and worked with authorities in that delivery. There are examples of that where the department has become involved and has encouraged authorities to come on line.

When it comes to other service delivery and the level of delivery, the department gets...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll let the Minister give some of the detail, but for the record, once again, the fact is that previous governments did initiate action. A zero-based review exercise was undertaken. A plan was being put together on how to move forward on this file to the point where FMBS got directly involved and remains involved to date.

In the other areas of the breakdown of services the Member is quite correct. When you look at the fact that we’ve had as much concern as Members of the Assembly about reducing to the levels we have, there’d be even a greater level of concern if we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program itself hasn’t been reviewed for quite some time. In fact, the Member is right: everyone above the Yellowknife rate would pay the first…. We would provide the Territorial Power Support Program for everyone up to the first 700 kilowatt hours. We are concerned and want to look at this. That’s why the Energy Coordinating Committee will be looking at this power support program, its structure and how it’s used in the Northwest Territories.

There’s no $26 million request in this supplementary appropriation. That, the department is working to come together on. Of course, FMBS is involved in some of that work, and some of that is receivables, and some of it is the ongoing delivery of programs and services. Again, that started a couple of years ago, intermittently, initially. But in this last number of months it’s been on a regular basis.

As we go through this work and look at the service delivery, the mandates and the program levels, we’ll be coming back to Members with this type of information.

Mr. Chairman, we work through the territorial health and social services act, and that lays out the relationship that departments have with the board and how FMBS can become involved in the operations of an authority.

Under the last government, initiatives were taken to bring FMBS to the table. That’s how the zero-based initiative was started: with the involvement of FMBS, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Stanton facility to come up with a program on reviewing its expenditure patterns and looking at how it was carrying on with the management of delivery of that service. That...

Obviously, our briefings are working because the Member is aware we’re planning to go to committee. We’re looking at the timing of the budget. We’re looking a number of issues around trying to come back with a way of limiting the forced growth in our Capital Acquisition Plan.

We’ll continue to work with Members on the timing of it. We’re hoping that in this budget, this fall, we should be able to present the Capital Acquisition Plan at a different time from what we’ve done and a different practice from what we’ve done in the past.

Mr. Chairman, the fact that the authorities have been running deficits for a number of years is a concern. That is why the FMBS has become involved, both on the collection side and doing the zero-based review process. The model we put together with Stanton Territorial Health Authority is the model we will be using, or a very similar model, for all other authorities that run into this area.

We know the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority is the next authority that will undergo this review. Previously, the Department of Health and Social Services had sent someone in from outside...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member is correct on the process, the program that’s in place and the policy we have with authorities. On the side of deficits, the boards are to address the deficits through their annual plan. With surpluses, they are allowed to put 50 per cent into a reserve fund to offset future deficits. We have two health authorities who have deficits at this point.

I want to say for the record that the deficits have started as late as the year 1999. Since ’98–99 a number of boards have been in and out of deficit. The Government of the Northwest Territories in past...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The area of infrastructure acquisition has been one of concern for the Government of the Northwest Territories. We’ve initiated an Infrastructure Cabinet Committee led by the Hon. Michael McLeod, who’s been working with a number of other departments to come up with options, timing of when we release the Capital Acquisition Plan. As well, for example, the Member has raised the issue of having some of our smaller capital items in a grouping.

That is all under consideration at this point. We’d have to work with the committee to see if there’s an acceptable way of proceeding...