Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, as a government, have taken all the steps at this point we believe are necessary. We’ve made arrangements with Integrated Services. We, along with Nunavut and the Alberta government, no longer place clients with APYS. The issue of the aboriginal and cultural component is one that’s been addressed. Integrated Services is tied into services in Edmonton with the group Bent Arrow and the friendship centres. We are working with them to make sure that the northern content is there. Once the clients move, we can deal with issues like northern foods and that sort of thing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not a facility with one huge roof like Wal-Mart. We're talking about individual living accommodations and supports for people with complex needs. I have indicated to the Members involved that I would be happy to look towards arranging a tour down to Capital Health in Edmonton to look at all our health services…

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…and all our social services that we contract with them. We did it in the last assembly and it was a very informative tour for myself and the Members who went along, and I would be willing to look at arranging that again. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no contradiction, and I'll do my best to satisfy the Member, as difficult as that sometimes may be. The reality is, as I've indicated, Mr. Speaker -- and this is not just a case of putting a roof over somebody's head -- we're talking about clients, many of them with complex, multiple needs that are very specialized. So I think it's an overgeneralization to say let's just round them all up and stick them into every available space we may have up here willy-nilly, regardless of what their needs may be. So, yes, we're looking at this and we're...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, without being able to find that particular item in my briefing book, the figure that I would suggest is it’s a few million. Thank you.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, as well, think I owe the people of the Northwest Territories and my colleague, Mr. Zoe, the respect of him hearing my comments as to where I stand on the situation.

Mr. Speaker, this is not an easy situation, as has been said by many of my colleagues, for any of us. Whether you vote yes or no, it’s still very difficult because we are talking about an individual’s life, his personal life, his family life, his professional life. We are talking about a circumstance where other people were involved and other people were affected, some more acutely than...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have developed a job description. It has been classified both in terms of the criteria for the qualifications, as well as the pay. We’ve also recognized that there is work to be done at the community level we’ve attempted to tie in to the broader strategy. We know that there are incumbents. We’ve been working through the authorities, and in a majority of areas this program was rolled out successfully. There is still work to be done and we are committed to working with the authorities and communities to ensure that we do that in a careful way of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as was pointed out a number of years ago now, the whole area of alcohol and drug addictions and mental health was an area that was not evolving as it should, that it suffered to a certain extent from begin neglected. The attempt here is to come up with a strategy and plan that would properly compensate individuals and get some new positions put in when it comes to mental health, to standardize qualifications and to bring the participants into working with the authorities and their other colleagues and have an integrated service delivery model. The intent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was an administrative change to hopefully improve how the system was administered, but there was no change to the drugs or the type of pharmaceuticals covered. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my opinion we gave appropriate consideration to all the people involved in all of the organizations and institutions involved in this particular issue, and it has been a relatively fluid situation and some things have possibly been overtaken by events. But at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, Nunavut, as I indicated, pulled their clients in March, the Alberta government as well pulled their clients. Our obligation is to ensure that the safety and service that we were buying, and the safety of our clients was ensured, and we’ve taken steps to do that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a government we do have an obligation to ensure that the services that we purchase, that the clients that we place in other jurisdictions are adequately cared for within that jurisdiction, that their safety and well being is protected, and we’ve taken steps to do that. When we considered the decisions we made, we looked at all the information that was there available. We have had staff down there for a number of weeks, we have been working with the Alberta government, the Public Guardian’s Office, and when the decision was made it was based on all the...