Julie Green

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I note these aren't really budgetary questions, but we are prepared to answer any and all questions about the work of the department. I will ask the deputy minister to answer this, please.

Yes. Thank you. I will start this, and then I will turn it over to Ms. Mathison. We have a very generous set of core services that are offered by our health authorities, and we need to ensure that we can continue those services now that we have them offered to our residents. We cannot say to people, "You could be out of work in March because we think that we will be out of money by then." The real question facing the health authorities is: what is the scope of our core services and what are the extras? Are we going to continue to fund all of the extras and continue adding to our deficit, or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. The department does, indeed, have a mandate commitment to establish nine transitional housing units for individuals returning from addictions treatment. The timeline on this commitment is completion by fall of 2023. Work is under way. The jurisdictional scan, research into best practices, and the scan of existing services have all been completed. These pieces of work will be used to inform the development of an NWT model for these transitional homes. To achieve an item of this nature, we need to work in an integrated manner with my...

I will ask Ms. Mathison to tell me that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Member please expand on what he means by "residencies"? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure that I have a projected deficit yet. I do not know that they have done their budget. I think they are waiting for us to finish our budget. The last figure I have for the deficit was $120,700,000. Thank you.

I appreciate the question, but I don't have that operational level of detail with me. What I can do, what I said I would do, is inquire about when the travelling teams might be available to go to the communities in Nunakput, and I will do that on an expedited basis so that the Member has that information.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My recollection is that this fund is going to sunset at the end of next month, and it is federal money. I am not sure if an additional or new fund with a similar focus is being contemplated. I will ask the deputy minister for that information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. These 82 positions in administration are out of a total workforce of over 1,800 people between the department and the health authorities, all of whom are represented in this budget. The department exists primarily here in Yellowknife, and then, of course, the health authorities are the front-line delivery for the programs. They exist in every community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This budget is at a very high level, so it doesn't speak specifically to what's going on in Fort Smith, and I don't have that detail with me. That would really be part of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority budget, to say what money was being spent in the specific areas that the Member asked about. We have spoken in the House before about Fort Smith lab services, and there is a switch from laboratory services to point-of-care tests. That transition is well under way, so almost all of the services that the Fort Smith lab had previously, it will...