Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I see this is the division that has health human resources. Could the Minister please tell me how much of the $34.32 million is allocated to the health human resources division?

Thank you, Minister Lee. Next on my list is Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, I am not exactly sure what that means. It is my understanding that currently, in addition to the $511,000 we provide or that Health provides to Aurora College to delivery that for us, Aurora College also charges tuition for their NP program and for their IAP program. I have heard through the grapevine that once upon a time the Department of Health used to ensure that all their community health nurses that they hire to go through the IAP and that we paid a tuition on top of that. But I have heard recently that the department is no longer having their employees attend the IAP...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister for that. I think hearing that in the House is very important today for those 29 families and important for us to hear as MLAs.

I’d like to just go back to my previous question. If she could give me a bit of an understanding of what groups are represented on that advisory group. Are some of the groups in the Territory that are providing these types of services going to be represented on that advisory group? Specifically, the NWT Disabilities Council and Yellowknife Association for Community Living; are they part of the advisory group...

As the Minister pointed out, there are regional respite focus groups taking place starting in February and going through February. That information, I understand, will then go to the advisory group who will provide some recommendations to the department on how to design or what might be the best model to use in the Northwest Territories. Could the Minister please tell me what is the makeup of that advisory committee? Does it include non-government organizations like the NWT Disabilities Council as well as the Yellowknife Association for Community Living? Is there representation from small...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last October there was a lot of talk about respite services in the Northwest Territories. We had a gallery full of people who were very concerned about the future of the YACL and their delivery of respite services.

As a result of that -- I believe that the Minister and her department actually heard what the people had to say -- the Minister is moving forward with the development of a comprehensive territory-wide respite program, which I think is fantastic. To that end, the department is holding regional respite care focus groups over the next couple of months, through...

That is not particularly helpful. If she could please give us some examples of the NGOs that are on that, that would give us a better sense as to who’s represented on this committee.

A second point that I’d like to ask about is: there are a lot of people here, 29 families who currently access services from the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. Clearly, this program is not going to be in place. It doesn’t sound like there will be even something to go forward to committee until the next business planning cycle. Is the Minister working with the Yellowknife Association for Community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are with respect to respite services in the Northwest Territories. The Department of Health and Social Services is currently developing a territorial-wide respite program. I’m wondering if the Minister could please provide me with a bit of an outline on the timeline how they’re going to move forward and when they expect to actually see a territorial respite program ready to go for review by the Standing Committee on Social Programs, and also when we think a territorial respite program might be rolled out for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for the budget address there today. There is certainly a lot that can and will be discussed from both within the budget itself and from within the budget address. I am looking forward to those discussions.

I would like to start off right now with just a couple of points. First, I am happy to see that the budget is consistent with our fiscal strategy and that the growth is less than 3 percent minus the net compensation. I think that’s important for the future of this government, both the 16th and future governments.

I also...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. I have nobody else on my list. What is the wish of committee? Mrs. Groenewegen