Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there will be an opportunity for staff currently employed, if they wish, to look at transferring. Also Yellowknife has the benefit of having one of the hottest economies in the country, so there are significant job opportunities here. Yellowknife Health and Social Services will also be working with the staff to see what is available. So we will make every effort to ensure that we can minimize whatever personal disruption there is to current staff in Yellowknife as we look at the transition. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Bosco Homes has provided a very high quality of service for many years. Like any contract, their term has run out. We’ve given them a one-year extension to help deal with the transition and it’s our hope that, through the competitive process, that they will continue to submit or will submit another expression of interest if they’re interested. We intend to move on filling this contract so there is no break in service. Bosco Homes is the current provider. I believe last time it was put out to tender the only company that did apply was Bosco Homes. At this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize an individual who has demonstrated tremendous patience and endurance these last 29 years and nine months, my wife, Jeri Miltenberger.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Member is asking me to comment on the fate and future of those former Justice employees, I’m not in a position to speak directly to that. I did indicate that there will be jobs coming through this contract to Hay River that will be advertised and filled. If there are interested and qualified people in Hay River, they will be, of course, given full consideration. I can offer that to the Member at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the value of the jobs that these people do is very high. The work they do is very important, dealing with children, and we are attempting to be as sensitive as possible. But if I can hearken back to the previous session when there were discussions of closures in other communities, it is an issue that causes, understandably, distress and concern in the community among those who are directly affected and we’re trying to be very sensitive. We met with the contractor and we’ve talked with the department. We’re working out a plan to be as mindful as possible as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, May 27, 2005, I will move that Bill 7, Personal Directives Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s our intention to build a lot of this detail with regard to this particular program into the upcoming business planning process, which is already in the developmental stage. We will be coming forward, given the time frame of 18 months, to do that. So there will be an opportunity for the Members to look at the detail both on the capital side and on the program side. But I want to assure the Member and this House that very clearly, in my opinion as Minister and as a Minister who has experience in running child welfare programs of this nature, that this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At present, they have one program in Yellowknife and that is the Territorial Treatment Centre. We are in the process of relocating that program and the service it provides. If children need that service, then they will have to go to Hay River to access it when that transition is made. There are other services available in Yellowknife, but at that level, should that residential program be required, it will be in Hay River. There is no plan at this point to move TTC and institute another institutional program in its place right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue has been on the table for some time, since the money was first put in the budget to renovate TTC a number of years ago and the money was carried over as we looked at possible alternatives given the age of the facility here in Yellowknife. So in the last number of months, more detailed work was done and some basic preliminary technical assessments were done of the building. The comparison between the two, given the government’s stated position that they’re prepared to look at opportunities to decentralize, was there was an opportunity here that...

No, Mr. Speaker.