Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like today to speak to yesterday’s statement from Minister McLeod, Chair of the Ministerial Subcommittee on Infrastructure. While I agree with the Minister that we face significant challenges in the GNWT capital planning and delivery process, I was dismayed to hear the Minister state that, and I quote, “Some of the more important changes we’ll be implementing are....” What struck me when I heard those words was the finality of the statement. The Minister is advising the House and the public that changes will happen, that the decisions have been made and the GNWT is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I must be having a tough day, because I’m confused again with the numbers. Page 6-12 is titled Revenue Summary, yet the two amounts that were referenced by the Minister add up to about $25 million to $26 million, which I thought she said was the amount we incur in expenses, and we only get $15 million back in revenue. If I could have a clarification, please.

So we would be left with two coordinators then: one in Inuvik, one at headquarters. I do understand from the information the department provided to the standing committee that some of the sort of technical support is going to be provided by TSC, and that’s a good thing. What is going to be the function of the two coordinators that are left? Will they have a regional scope, and just what regions will each of these two people cover?

Okay. Thank you. That’s fine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is an increase in staffing at community health authorities of seven positions. I wonder if I could get some explanation, some rationale for the need for these changes. I want to say I don’t begrudge the health and social services authorities from getting more staff, but I’d like to know why we’re cutting positions in headquarters and increasing at the authorities.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hate to belabour this issue of staffing, but I do have a couple of questions.

Information that the standing committee was given by the department some time ago indicated that all 17 positions we have on the new table were to be eliminated in ’08–09. I just would like to get clarification from the Minister whether that’s a typo. If it’s not, how do we eliminate two people we haven’t yet determined?

Did the Minister expect a response from Regular Members to his briefing? Did the Members not hear the request for a response if there was one? Why do we seem to have such difficulty understanding each other? Where is the notice from the Minister that was requested in our letter?

Yesterday’s announcement to me is, unfortunately, another example of the high-handed attitude of this Cabinet. They seem to have little regard for the input of Regular Members, as evidenced by their actions.

All I want is a chance to hear, and comment on, what the government is going to do, before my constituents do.

Okay. I am having a bad day. I did have a question, as well, on this page. There are two numbers, a 1 and a 2, that reference notes, I presume. But I don’t know where those notes are in the document. If they’re important, I guess I need to know. What are they referencing?

Thank you. That’s great. That’s good.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to, unfortunately, review the Telehealth positions. I got confused with the numbers, and where they are, how many they are, and how many we’re going to be left with. I thought I heard that there currently or were four Telehealth coordinator positions and that the budget is going to leave us with one in Inuvik. If I could get that confirmed, please.