Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's my intention that that would be included in the reconciliation I've already committed to provided committee on how the dollars in that area are spent.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we are agreeing. I think we need to look at it all, and think about the clients. With the health system moving to a single authority, one of the things that we've been very clear and consistent on is this is about client care. Our system needs to be client-focused and client-driven. Are we there? No, no. No, we are not. Can we get there? Yes, yes. Yes, we can. Do we have a lot of work to do? Yes. I think we have all heard frustrations people have had with medical travel, and clearly, we have got to be focused on trying to make sure that the experience is not...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the agreements haven't been signed. They're not recognized in this budget. Once they've been signed and we actually know what's going to be allocated on a fiscal year basis we'll be able to update probably by way of a supp in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to you and through you I'd like to recognize a resident of the Great Slave riding as well as a delegate of the Daughters of the Vote initiative. Ms. Nha Ly, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it is not a reduction that is anything other than a reduction due to shared procurement, an opportunity to buy bulk instead of individually at one authority level like we used to. There has been some decreased demand on some of the different types of chemo drugs that are out there. This is purely a reduction based on consolidated purchasing and some demand. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're open to discussing anything, but I'm not sure exactly what the Member is referring to. Is the Member referring to, like, a safe house or is the Member referring to a family violence shelter? I mean, there are so many possibilities here. In the region, we have a shelter in the community of Inuvik that is available to the region. So it really depends on the nature and scope to which the community is referring.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe it was in the last government that this particular standing offer agreement was established. It is reviewed every couple of years. I do believe the discussion around whether or not we go for standing offer agreements in the future is coming up. It might be six months. It might be a year. I can't remember the exact date, but I know that it does have a finite time limit.

I will confirm what the duration of this particular standing offer agreement is. I hear the Member's concern, but I could also argue that it might go the exact opposite. They have got a captive...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. These are accumulating totals of the previous pages; everywhere where it says basically transfer to authority, this is just the accumulated total. The Member is right; that's true. Some regions, like the Sahtu as an example, have a number of positions being added to cover the long-term care. Hay River has one position for their facility as well, so there is some growth in some regions of the Territorial Health Authority compared to others.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Most of the samples and whatnot are actually going from the Deh Cho to Yellowknife. Some of them may have to be referred south depending on the nature of the sample taken and time that the sample is viable, if you will. For the most part, many samples can be taken in the Fort Simpson Health Centre or other health centres and shipped to Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are resources in this area already. What we need to do is make sure that we're utilizing those resources to maximum benefit. Certainly as we move forward and we look at these recommendations and we try to address the backlog, we'll get a better sense of what the continual demand will be and we'll certainly be in a position to have some discussions based on information, probably during the next business planning cycle. Thank you, Mr. Chair.