Rylund Johnson

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I  guess just a comment. I think there's probably  I recognize we have to let communities make their decisions on their infrastructure. There's some complication there in that a lot of that infrastructure we sometimes become ultimately responsible for. I also think that  I mean, it's not  the GNWT's not really in a position to tell people not to build a bunch of infrastructure you can't afford to maintain. But I think there's probably some very large policy work to be done to assess all of the community infrastructure, all of the GNWT infrastructure, and have a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at about three and a half million dollars of various medical I really have no concern with what's presented here. My question is it was my understanding that we were looking to replace our electronic medical records system, and I believe that was quite a costly endeavor, and I don't see that here. Can the Minister just give an update as to what is going on with that process. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I guess I'll lead into what the Minister said there. I recognize that there's some disagreement about portions of the gap. You know, if a community pulls in a bunch of federal infrastructure money, that doesn't get factored into the formula. There's different ways to calculate needs and I'll note some communities have probably built far too much water and sewer lines for the size of them and some are on trucked water, and there's obviously a lot of engineering analysis that goes into assessing that. But can the Minister speak to when we expect to have a new formula...

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would appreciate the Minister following up with what we expect Alberta to bill us back. I know that they bill us back millions of dollars a year, and I expect that births, even one complicated birth, can get very expensive really quickly. And I guess my point here is that this closure is becoming a million dollar cost to us. I think that's quite clear. We're in that range. And I know it's been reported that the OBS nurses for years have been asking for an additional staff person and there's some debate about, you know, about whether that is needed. But I think...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I get an updated figure of what the municipal funding gap for capital is presently at. I see we're giving communities $29 million here. If we were following the formula as we have set it, what should this number be. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there is a lot of efforts being done to make sure we fill those 61 positions, and I know that it's costly not to fill them. And I was hoping the Minister could inform us with this latest closure of obstetrics, what is the estimated cost of sending all those patients to Edmonton to give birth as opposed to, if they were able to, here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the first question is can I confirm that this is 100 percent flowthrough money that goes directly to communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, the GNWT already owns and operates one fibre line with Northwestel. Just this week, we spent $6 million to extend that fibre line. And, you know, considering this press release came out yesterday, I'm not going to ask the Minister for a few more million dollars today. I'll give her the weekend before doing that.

I have one question for the Minister of Finance here. Is the Minister of Finance willing to meet with Det’on Cho and Northwestel and see if there is a path forward to some public funding for fibre redundancy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I'm  I'm doing some quick math. I think this is well over $20 million a year in O and M, and I think that's even a very conservative estimate based on what I just heard.

Can the Minister just speak to, I know that Health and Social Services Authority is in deficit. We're trying to find money always for health. The costs are ballooning. Is there  can the Minister speak to kind of whether we are confident that we will have the fiscal room to operate these beds. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just  I notice there is two body holding rooms here. Can I just get a bit of an explanation of what  why we're building body holding rooms. Are they required in all communities now? Is there some sort of standard that's kind of spurring us. I just would like a little bit of clarification there. Thank you.