Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we spend in the neighbourhood of $1 million a year on agency nurses. We do have plans to mitigate that. We have invested millions of dollars in the Northern Nursing Program at the Aurora College. We have been in a state of transition for the last 18 months. This coming spring, we anticipate, are planning, and are very glad to see about 24 nurse graduates that are going to be graduating with their four-year degree and nursing certification that we are going to be making job offers to. As well, we are looking seriously at ways to set up permanent float...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is money that’s been put aside for this winter as we continue to work on a longer-term homelessness strategy or strategy for the homeless. There’s some money that’s been identified for Yellowknife and Inuvik and some in Hay River. As well, there’s a fund of $150,000, I believe, that’s been set aside for small communities to use on a case-by-case basis should there be circumstances that arise as there has been over the last number of months. It allows us to, on a short-term emergency basis, deal with those individuals that are called absolutely...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll just quickly outline some of the many factors that we think are affecting not only the Bathurst herd, but the herds in general. There's things called weather events where we experience a lot of freezing rain in the last number of years during the winter that has frozen the ground making it very, very difficult for the animals to feed. There's concern that the number of predators is very large and extreme. There are hunting issues. There's more roads now and access to hunting than there's ever been before. There are development issues. So those...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we anticipate, and we are starting to see, an improvement in our HR services now that we are consolidating, being more efficient and coordinating our efforts. The problems with nurses have long preceded the fact that we have consolidated HR. We continue to struggle nationally and internationally with a shortage of nurses. We have spent millions, as I have said, beefing up and coming up with a very good nursing program in the Northwest Territories. As well, we are also going to be developing an improved program for licensed practical nurses which will allow...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we bring in locum nurses on an as-required basis with the various authorities in the different facilities. I can indicate to the Member that the largest amount or use of locum nurses is in the Inuvik region, followed by the Sahtu. We do pay a very stiff premium. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are committed to making sure that every community and every health centre is adequately resourced and equipped. That is the basis that we look at allocating the resources. As we go through the detailed budget review, and we have the staff here and we will have the documentation, I would be happy, at that point, plus separately with the Member, to go over what is on the books for the Sahtu that we can see firsthand. I can tell the Member that there are dollars allocated and identified that we are going to be spending in the Sahtu in a whole range of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health authority in the Sahtu and their staff will carry on with administrative processes in place to deal with O and M requirements for minor capital and larger capital items will go into the capital planning process. As well, we have assessments of the health centres, the condition of the health centres and where they may be in terms of their life expectancy and potential required upgrades. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of some concern for the Northwest Territories, the government, and all the communities in the North. We are working, as the Member has indicated, on a plan. In fact, Minister McLeod and I and our staff met yesterday, and we're looking at bringing a document forward that hopefully, over the next number of weeks, we'll be able to review the committee as well, that lays out some of our initial thoughts and recommendations in the interim as we look to how to rationalize the whole process.

In regards to the Member's request for $10,000, if the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I spent the last three questions providing the information of what we intend to do. I will just stand by those commitments that I made in previous answers to previous questions. We will ensure that, where appropriate, we go to public tender. Recognizing the business we are in, we require the latitude to do sole source in certain areas. Where it has been identified that the rules haven’t been applied properly, we have taken the steps with the deputy minister to ensure that everybody involved is clearly aware of what is expected of them. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we will ensure that we are appropriate and guidelines are followed and procedures are followed. But I would like to point out, as well, that we have some very significant contracts that are with a specific provider. The one that immediately comes to mind, of course, is the capital health authority, where we have over a $10 million arrangement with them to provide services. We have numerous arrangements for children in care that are very specialized services that we just don’t put out to tender. In cases where it is appropriate, we are talking about...