Statements in Debates
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just get clarification: Those 390 applicants would be employers; do we have a sense of how many actual people are getting their paycheques topped up right now? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I see that we are adding quite a bit of debt this year once again. Can I just get current projections of when we are expected to hit our debt ceiling? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I wish that perhaps the chief information officer could direct people or the Department of Finance could direct departments. I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent here about digital government. Essentially, there are governments where all of your information is stored in one area, and you log on to fill out an income assistance form, and all of the government data that it is already holding populates the form automatically. Actually, some of those governments have policies that they can never ask you for a piece of information twice. They can never ask you what...
I recognize that it may not be as simple as turning a switch on. However, our doctors and our healthcare professionals use HealthNet Viewer daily. There have been consistent problems in this area in making sure that patient files are complete. I think that there is a bit of a misunderstanding, and our patients think that someone is monitoring their file and making sure it is robust and complete and all of the data works in there. Actually, the health system is just as siloed as many other GNWT departments. My question is: What work is being done now to make sure we are bringing all of our...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, that does help. I am trying my best to understand this area because I think it actually does not get often the oversight it needs. IT projects are notorious for going over budget, and software is very expensive. It's one of those areas where we spend millions and millions of dollars. I think many people's eyes just glaze over when it starts getting talked about, but it is not an insignificant part of the budget, both finances, procurement of software, and the ultimate management through this ISSS. I have spoken previously to the Minister about having an open data...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier in my statement about our electronic medical record system and our eHealth system. At one point, the Northwest Territories was a leader in this area, being one of the first jurisdictions to completely shift all of our health records to electronic form. When we designed that system, we designed a patient portal, which allowed people to log in and see their health records digitally. Other jurisdictions have now caught up and have those portals open and operating, and we have refused to do this. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is...
Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize that reconciling human resources into one area in the GNWT makes sense, but I think, when I speak to a lot of people in the health authorities, there has been frustration in the past with human resources and there has been frustration about having not-nurses hire other nurses and not having healthcare professionals having had that expertise. I recognize that's exactly what this joint unit is trying to remedy, but is there any consideration to giving the human resource capacity back to the health authority? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am also looking at the department's business plan, and I see that this May-June session, we were supposed to see the Status of Women Act updated. I don't believe we have seen the legislative proposal for that yet, but can I just get confirmation of whether that work is on track? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am looking at the Department of Finance's business plan, and it said that the Public Service Act was scheduled for introduction in 2020, quarter four. That did not occur. Could I get a sense of when we will see the Public Service Act? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has a lot of legislative work to do. This is a small one. I recognize it's not as big a priority as the Fire Prevention Act, but considering that I don't see any MACA legislation coming forward in this Assembly or, I believe, the next year, I think a small, simple bill will be a win for this department, showing they can actually pass legislation. My question is: Is the Minister willing to direct her department to share some of the policy work that has been done in this area, perhaps a jurisdictional scan. I know Ontario lets the municipalities vote online. The...