Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the expert advisory panel report that was done for the provinces and territories is already public. As far as the information we receive from different stakeholders, we are going to consolidate all that information as we move forward with putting in some interim measures that will come into effect on June 6. I will certainly be having a discussion with Members on what we have heard and where we are going prior to June 6. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The agreement that we have with the Gwich’in involves a number of different camps. Camps will incorporate cultural practices that support wellness and healing through traditional methods, medicine, and social interactions. It's my understanding that they are going to be delivering programs in all four seasons here in the Northwest Territories. As far as how one would apply, I don't have that information in front of me, but I'll certainly talk to the department, get the details, and share with the Member on how the Gwich’in are intending to advertise these camps and how they're encouraging...

As I indicated, I've had the opportunity as Minister to travel to all the communities in the Northwest Territories, and when I've been there one of the things that I hear the most about is medical travel and frustrations that exist around medical travel. The policy on escorts actually sets out that the requirement and criteria for an escort to travel with a medical travel client is known as a “non-medical escort,” and they may be approved if: the patient is under the age of 19; the patient is breastfeeding an infant and requires an escort to assist with the baby; the patient has a mental or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Medical Travel Policy is designed to reduce financial impact on residents who are accessing insured health services. Those benefits are in place mostly to help address the geographical realities and needs that we have in the Northwest Territories for people who are accessing these insured services. There is a significant expenditure. The total budget for the medical travel program in 2015-2016 was $36.9 million, with projected expenditures actually over that, of $38.2 million. The total cost, we are able to recover some of those dollars from other...

We won't know what the federal legislation looks like until it is passed. We anticipate that it will be passed on June 6, which means we will have to be in a position to facilitate physician-assisted dying here in the Northwest Territories. Now that we have pulled together some information from stakeholders across Northwest Territories, we have the expert panel's report, we also have the report that was prepared for the federal government, and we also know that a number of the different provincial colleges of physicians are doing a significant amount of work on this. We are going to pull all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last June, we formed a partnership with the other provinces and territories and we actually had an expert advisory group pulled together to go out and do some research and analysis on physician-assisted dying. That report has been made available. We have had a number of discussions at the FPT level to see what other jurisdictions are doing so that we could have as coordinated an approach as possible. At the same time, earlier this calendar year, we actually went out for a public call for information and feedback from residents across the Northwest Territories. We sent...

Quality assurance is a critical component of the healthcare system to ensure that we have feedback to actually ensure that the system is meeting its needs. Every health and social services authority has a patient representative who can work to address these concerns quickly and efficiently at the regional level. Concerns can also be raised with the CEO, board chair, or public administrator in the case of the Deh Cho. The department also has as system navigator who can be contacted by phone or email and helps to resolve complaints and concerns. A formal written complaint can also be sent to the...

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to announce that the Government of the Northwest Territories has, for the fourth year in a row, been chosen as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2016. This recognition by the Globe and Mail and Mediacorp Canada Incorporated distinguishes organizations that strive to include women, Aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peoples in the workplace. Receiving the award places the GNWT among an exclusive group of Canadian employers who have demonstrated a commitment to create a workplace...

As the Minister of Finance has indicated, we are in a difficult financial situation. We do need to be very careful with the money that we're spending. We also have to look within to make sure that the dollars that we're spending are getting maximum effect and maximum benefit.

I will commit to working with Members through the business planning process to identify where our dollars are being spent, and as I indicated, once we have actually moved forward to one authority and we have a more consolidated budgeting process, we'll be in a better position to have a discussion with the Member and...

We currently spend about $2.7 million on shelters in the Northwest Territories as well as an additional $200,000 that's available to communities or regions that don't have shelters. There is, as the Member said, no set formula for determining the allocation authorities, and there certainly isn't a formula to provide for forced growth to the shelters or to the NGOs. This is something that we certainly are happy to look at and would be happy to have more discussions with the Member in committee. We have looked at various ways to address inflationary increases in shelter costs. Personally, I...