Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We have spent an extensive amount of time doing this for the first time getting the services outside of Yellowknife into Fort Smith. We have worked out an arrangement with Stanton, with the Capital Health Authority. We have worked on the protocol and procedures. So it should be much more timely. We are working with the CEO and staff in the Deh Cho region, as well as with Stanton and the department and Hay River. We have people who have worked through this process once. So to set it up in Fort Simpson we anticipate will be considerably less onerous than it was the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there is a saying that even a broken watch is right twice a day. Having said that…

---Laughter

…I would like to acknowledge that the Member has a very legitimate concern in terms of dialysis in his region and that I want to publicly state that the Health and Social Services department is going to be working with the authority to make sure we establish those services. We are looking at two communities outside of Yellowknife in addition to Fort Smith; Fort Simpson is one and Hay River is another because there is a need there. There are residents who...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Madam Speaker, I apologize. What happens is the money is sent from the department, once the budget is approved, to the authorities, then the authorities manage and implement the use of the money. So there are circumstances between the authority and the board and the Transition House that we are trying to sort out so the full amount of money is transferred. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is about a six-week training component to get nurses and LPNs qualified and ready to provide this service. That service has been delivered out of Stanton for those individuals involved. Of course, we recognize this as a program expansion in the communities where the service is being delivered and recognize that it’s impossible to expect them to do it with existing resources, so we are moving to make sure that the appropriate resources are there, both in terms of human resources and fiscal resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we are working on this as we now talked in this House. We have had meetings with authorities. We have talked to the department about it. The rationalization to do this is very clear; the rationale is there, the justification. We are working on the planning. We are in the business planning process and we are looking at putting some of our federal funds to use as well when those are finally flowing to us, so we can deal with this issue as quickly as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the intent of our whole health and services system is to have a relationship and structure where the authorities and the boards administer and run the programs in the regions on behalf of the people. So in order for us to do that, we have to continue to stay with that process. We are undergoing operational reviews of all the authorities to make sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to be, and these are thorough, comprehensive operational reviews. There is one currently underway in Inuvik that is going to be finished in June and we will be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand it has been out for RFP, but I am not sure when it is closed or if they have been successful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member indicated, we operate on this side of the House in a perennial minority situation, and that point is brought home to us time and time again. It’s something I’m very, very cognitive of, and we’re all very sensitive to the need to work in a consensus style with all the MLAs, both those from Yellowknife and those from outside Yellowknife, but as a collective for the common good. We intend to do that. The business plan will lay out the detail and we’re always interested and, once again, sensitive in trying to accommodate issues raised in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as an MLA from one of the smaller communities, I am very, very sensitive to the issue of government resources in communities and how they are spread out across the North, including the capital and all of the other small communities, and how important those resources are, especially in the smaller communities. Have we learned anything through the last session? Yes, we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to point out and reiterate a point I made yesterday, in that the Government of the Northwest Territories has also made the signal very clearly that they are interested and willing to look at decentralizing programs when they make sense and when it is the appropriate thing to do. In this case, this is one of those cases. Will the people be there? Yes, they will be. We have done it in the past. We are running a program in Fort Smith as well, delivering a high quality of care for children. It may take some work, but Bosco Homes has...