Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated to the Member, once we get the final document, and we agree on the course of action in conjunction with all the stakeholders who are involved in the committee, then we will be able to determine how fast we can move on whatever course of action is determined to be the best. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that we are just waiting for some final confirmation from the community member that was on the committee, at which point we would be able to build the next steps into the planning processes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a department of this government, we follow the contracting guidelines that are there for all government departments to follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before the end of session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the important first step is almost complete, which is to finally have a comprehensive plan for the facility which also includes, as I indicated, a review of the acuity levels of all of the elders in the Sahtu region. When we get the final agreement in terms of the options, then we can determine the costs. Based on that, we can see how fast we can move on that part of the six-unit piece. I know the Housing Corporation is very interested and is willing to be, and has been, a partner in this project from the start. We are going to work together to move on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a working group comprised of officials from the department and from the Sahtu region, as well as a community member from Deline, looking at the best use for this facility. Initially, there was a thought and suggestion that we should be looking at a long-term care facility. What has come out of the work that has been done there are a number of things. Firstly, in order to get a better assessment of the level of need among the elders, they did a thorough review in the region of every elder and their acuity level, which came back with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are working with a number of groups, and we give all these proposals serious consideration of what fiscal resources may be available to meet such requests. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this project is a good idea, and we acknowledge the fact that we have some communities that we haven’t made arrangements with yet. We still have some time left, but the reality is that we are going to unfold this and it would be almost impossible to just pick and choose individual communities. This cost is put on the distributors and it goes to the communities, so Members can keep their cans and their bottles of beverages and we will compensate them. The program is there, and we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure this works. We have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d just like to point out that this very important initiative was created late in the life of the 14th Assembly and was seen as something that was put into place before that Assembly finished. The 15th Assembly has picked up that challenge, and we’re moving on that. Mr. Speaker, through this program, we estimate that we discard about 25 million containers over the course of a year. That’s over 500 containers for every man, woman and child in the Northwest Territories. We’ve picked a date of November 1st that we want to try and roll out this program in all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a system, we are doing a number of things. We have added nurse practitioners; we have added midwives; we are going to look at trying to improve and upgrade the licensed practical nurses that we do have to give them a greater scope of practice; and we are going to work with the doctors with whom we have a long-term agreement that goes to 2008. But the Member raises a very good point. We are always looking at ways to improve how we do business, and we are going to be looking seriously with the doctors at ways to maximize performance and deal with the...