Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just further to the questions from my colleague from Yellowknife North, further than just the tendering process, there's definitely a sense in communities of kind of not knowing what direction Housing is going in or when their units might be updated or retrofitted or what kind of the future of housing looks like in the Northwest Territories. And that's not just even in small communities; that's regional centres. That's even here in Yellowknife. And so even though there's not, I guess, a willingness to put out a public document talking about tendering dollars...

Madam Speaker, as other provinces cap recruitment bonuses across the country to reel in new healthcare professionals, NWT healthcare staff waited for the same bait. As of September, the GNWT is now using the labour supplement policy to attract select healthcare professionals with bonuses of $5,000 to $7,000. This is one piece of the GNWT's push to recruit healthcare staff in the wake of a national shortage. But, Madam Speaker, I was surprised that the fall's announcement of recruitment plans for NTHSSA made no mention of one of the NWT's strongest healthcare success tools the Aurora College's...

Yeah, thank you very much Mr. Chair. I guess in here, and I know this isn't new information to the department, but I think it need to be said, is, especially with the state of the territory right now, our elders and having elders in communities is so important to community members and to the mental health of community members and the mental health of our elders and to the quality of life of our elders. And so I think this is making pathways for elders to be able to age in place is incredibly important, and this is a piece of that puzzle. And so I really do encourage the department to please...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. So I was on the same page, sorry, as MLA Johnson. I won't fully repeat what he has said but my concern is that three out of four of these longterm care facilities are in planning phases. The planning phase is estimated completion of 2025 like, the year that is under estimated completion, that's the estimated completion of the planning phase, is that correct?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. No, I appreciate that. I had visions of nursing staff on top of giant frontend loaders, so thank you for that.

My next question, I'm wondering if somebody can help me out here. I just simply don't know what 1300 BGSM or 1600 BGSM stands for. So I'm just wondering if somebody can help me out with that one. Thank you

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I guess, first of all, congratulations to MLA Johnson. If you are a Yellowknifer and you don't know street names, it means you're properly acclimatized to be a Yellowknifer.

My question is for the Minister in regards to I just want an idea of why the Department of Health and Social Services is requesting money for a capital project that they don't really have kind of secure handle on what location's going to be used, what design's going to be used, when it will be completed, or what budget they're going to be requesting, given that this does not fall...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm wondering if Health and Social Services will commit to providing conditional employment contracts to potential nursing graduates in January before they are headhunted by other jurisdictions? In speaking with past graduates, they have noted that quite often in the month of June they are receiving casual contracts and are really having to put their faith in the GNWT to get around to providing indeterminate contracts to them. And so I'm wondering if we can bump this up to really make sure that we're not losing nurses to other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I'm wondering if NTHSSA will consider funding Aurora College nursing student tuition for southern students who want to study and work in the NWT as a means to attract new nursing students? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that from the Minister. I want to understand a little bit more given that it seems like Hay River's our best bet for longterm care outside of Yellowknife. I want to understand from the Minister if their intent is to move the facility because of where the flood waters came to, or is it to redesign, and if the Minister can confirm if the flood waters came up to where the existing location was expected to be, or what specifically is needing to change because of the flood this year. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And sorry, I'm having a hard time hearing Mr. Heath at times. I don't know if we can turn up his microphone; it could just be my ears, so I apologize for that.

So my concern is that given that this is at the planning stage, not the actual facilities will be done at the estimated completion time that, really, the soonest we're going to have additional longterm care facilities in the Northwest Territories would be the 20272028 fiscal year, which is another six years away from now. And a lot of these facilities are already late, I guess, or have been pushed back from when they...