Jane Groenewegen

I’d like to ask the Minister: is there any precedent for any units within any other health authorities that are dealing specifically with this challenge?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the need for a sexual health program in Hay River. I wanted to ask the Minister if she was aware of a proposal that was submitted back in December of 2007 from the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority in this regard — I know we’re in a budget restraint time — and if there are any federal, or any, monies she may be aware of that could initiate this. In Hay River, as with many communities in Canada, we have a relatively unstable complement of physicians, and we have a high turnover in that area with locums. Building...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Motion carried.

I’m wondering what incentive managers of health authorities have to live within their means and stay on budget. This sends a pretty big message for a deficit of this magnitude to be addressed with a straight bailout, so to speak. What incentive is there, then, for the authorities who have stayed within their budget or very close to it? What incentive is there for them to do that going forward, knowing that we can vote a $17 million budget item to address a deficit?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee would like to deal with the Legislative Assembly’s Main Estimates, Bills 9 and 11, and Committee Reports 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, please.

Mr. Speaker, to the issue of finding money to top up the program: right now, where do the funds come from for the territorial support program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions that have been asked in the House today by my colleagues with regard to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, but I want to direct my question to the Minister Responsible for the FMBS, because the FMBS oversees the Power Subsidy Program. People talk about levelized rates, and I know that the PUB has commented in the past on the issue of one-rate zone, or levelized rates, suggesting that it is completely within the proper mandate of this government to be the social engineers of power rates in the Northwest Territories. To that...

With regard to this, I do applaud the efforts of the staff at the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority for coming up with some of these innovative programs. They have very good programs dealing with diabetes and some specialized areas that we see as emerging problems and issues.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if I could advise the authority and the people of Hay River that there would be a very good opportunity for such a program to be funded and staffed in our community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent years the subject of sexual health has been a growing concern across the country and, in particular, in the Northwest Territories. Sexual health consists of many aspects of health care, covering both emotional and physical well-being. This topic ranges from the detection and management of sexually transmitted diseases to family planning and contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screening and the assessment, treatment and counselling of sexual health care. High-risk behaviours also contribute to transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Many of...

This is a really sizeable amount of money, $17 million. I want to know: are there any intermediate steps that would be taken when you’re heading down this path to a $17 million deficit, where at some point somebody might say, “We’re in trouble here” and take some intervention steps to do some analysis along the way as opposed to trying to sort this out afterward, this far into deficit? It just seems like it’s a little too much after the fact. Sometimes with health authority boards there has been a necessity in the past to step into the situation. The Minister will take on a role of appointing...