Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just doing some onthefly math, I believe there was 90 Yellowknife residents. I know there was some Nunavut residents who were also affected. But 90 times $12,500 is $1,125,000. Can I just get a clarification on that $12,500 statistic? Is that the cost of all the medical travel and the accommodations, and does it include I believe if we send someone to birth in Edmonton, Alberta Health Services is going to bill us back for those services. Does it include that number and if not, what would that be? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker  Madam Chair. I appreciate  I don't get a lot of yeses out of MACA so I'll cherish them.

I guess I'm a little frustrated that this number is actually going down. We added two and a half million dollars to the municipal funding gap last capital budget, and now it's not here. Can I get an updated figure of what, according to our own policy, the municipal funding gap for capital is at.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I appreciate her informing this House previously that we have a 26.3 percent vacancy rate in nursing positions and this is a 10 percent increase since 2020. However I was hoping the Minister could help me quantify what that means at Stanton specifically where the OBS unit has closed. Can the Minister tell us currently how many positions are funded at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and how many of them are not actually filled. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know the territory spends  I believe it's upwards of $20 million on outofterritory services, and we have many residents with kinds of very complex needs and longterm care in Alberta. Can the Minister just speak to whether any of these longterm care beds would be able to repatriate those people. I know some have complex needs and services beyond what we're planning to build here, but I'm just wondering if any of these additional beds will bring people home from Alberta. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to echo some of the comments made by my colleague from Kam Lake of the importance of fibre redundancy. Even before COVID, we all know the world was quickly moving online but I think, as we have seen with any emergency, access to the internet is essential for communication and the continued efforts of essential services.

Mr. Speaker, right now if there's a forest fire or some idiot shoots the fibre line, we run out of internet. The creation of a fibre redundancy loop allows us, and the communities around the lake, to have a secondary point of access. As already...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I  you know, committee has reviewed the longterm care strategy and the work, and there's been some various needs assessments. But I guess there's 136 beds here in the capital budget. Do we have a rough estimate of what that then costs to operate in the O and M budget, or can the Minister just speak to some of the O and M costing that each of these beds puts on the budget. Thank you.

Lastly, Madam Chair, I know we have either purchased or rented or using the Tlicho allseason construction room as a temporary day shelter, which my understanding is intended to run until this one is complete. Can I just get clarification whether that money is found in the capital budget or the O and M budget or whether that's coming forward through a sup. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to hear that breakdown.

I guess, you know I often think if you actually want to get government to do something, getting the accountants to change some standards is some of the most effective ways do that. But I'm curious to the extent that which now tracking this liability, does it actually put any obligation to us to follow it.

You gave the example of sewage lagoons. I know that most of our communities' sewage lagoons are not in compliance with their water licenses. Most of them are run by community governments and not at all in any condition to be maintained...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'll start by saying I actually this is I do like this line as opposed to I understand why the Minister of Finance does not, but I think this goes to a public accounting standards I've asked governments to do because there was just billions of dollars of liabilities around this country in old asbestos buildings and hazardous materials. Traditionally in our territory, they've ended up in landfills where they probably shouldn't. There's been a long history of not making sure buildings and capital projects are properly disposed of, and I think the more accurate...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess, importantly, the last time I looked at our debt ceiling and the debt projections were getting pretty close. Does this $70 million count towards the debt ceiling.