Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we are expecting that before the end of summer, or by the end of summer, early fall, the design work that’s currently underway will be done and that we will be building, as per Cabinet direction, this particular item into the upcoming capital planning process for ‘07-08. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will say that planning is proceeding in pace, as has been laid out for the committee. I will ask, with your indulgence, Mr. Chair, that Mr. Murray speak to the detail of how things are proceeding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a considerable amount of work being done with the nurses and the public health through the authorities to make individuals aware of the benefits of regular checkups which is one of the fundamental first steps not only in the case of breast cancer, but for others as well to get the regular checkups to check out specific concerns. As well, there are posters and such that are out there to encourage ladies to get checked and go to their local health station. If there are any signs of issues, they will make arrangements for referrals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I attempted to lay out the packages that were in the component pieces yesterday where, before we can move on to Stanton, we wanted to do the facilities review that would help us look at rationalizing our over-capacity on acute care beds to make some clear decisions on the types of programs that are going to be available. Before we could do any further work on Stanton as well, we wanted…an emergency where there was $6 million in the budget, it became clear that studies tell us that over 50 percent of the people coming into emergency for care are non-emergent care...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work done on what causes the various cancers. Very clearly, in many cases, the cancers come back to some very fundamental basic issues that I have raised in this House before. They come back to the diet, exercise, smoking and drinking as things that are very significant in causing heart and lung problems, kidney problems, liver problems, all sorts of circulatory problems. So there are some very fundamental basic issues there that contribute to the cancers and diabetes. That evidence is clear. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We spent $850,000 for the line last year. The nature of the calls -- and we made a point of trying to publicize this as far and wide as we can -- are not for what would be seen as a medical emergency. It is for advice. It could range from a young mother calling because their baby has sniffles, to somebody that may have a question to do with a medication or a potential side effect that they think they may be suffering. There is a wide range, but the intent is to be able to give access to northerners to ask the questions that would not make it necessary for them to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been work done looking at what would be required to modernize and rewrite this legislation. We are going to continue to pay as much attention as we can to that issue as we try to conclude with major pieces of legislation currently underway. It comes down to a capacity and resource issue. The Member’s points are all accurate and valid. This is an outdated piece of legislation. We will make our best efforts to make sure that we have as much work done so that, at the start of the next Assembly, it can be picked up and moved forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I don’t disagree at all with the Member’s assessment of the value of the volunteer firefighting and ambulance services in Hay River. The same can be said in every community that has volunteers, that without volunteers, we would be unable to provide many services. I will honour the commitment I made in the House, which is we will sit down and we will look with the other departments that the Member mentioned in her statement, it was being MACA I believe, and ITI, and we will work with community of Hay River and volunteer firefighting and ambulance services...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, doctors would confirm that, in fact, a significant amount of their practice is tied to mental health issues and related circumstances, as are most other health practitioners. We have a significant amount of resources. We have a $265 million budget. A lot of it is focussed on nurses, doctors, social workers, wellness workers and mental health workers. There will always be more problems than we have resources for. The issue is to make sure that, I think, the resources we have are put to the most effective use and that our plan for the future reflects...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am assuming that universal numbers are going to be sufficient. We can give to the Member the number of allied health professionals, as well as doctors and nurses and such that we currently have on staff, or that we are funded for, as well as lay out from this budget what is currently before this House for 2006-2007.