Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you, Madam Chair. We've seen some local retailers stop using plastic bags on their own accord and have just gone to reusing cardboard boxes or just insisting that the only option for people is to bring their own bag. In terms of the single-use plastic bags, is that something that our government would like to jump on sooner rather than later, and work with retailers to end that practice? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. How has ENR leveraged the on-the-ground expertise of different private businesses in order to help solve some of the landfill challenges in some of our remote communities? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Transportation plays a large role in the Northwest Territories when it comes to taking care of our land and our environment, and we have both trucks that come into our communities that are road-accessible, that come in generally full and leave empty. We also have MTS, which barges in product to our communities, and sometimes leaves empty.

Does ENR currently work with Infrastructure to see how we can make sure that we are leveraging these transportation means effectively, to make sure that nothing is going back empty and to also make sure, if there is potential...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Is that strategy specific to this project as a pilot right now, or is it a blanket strategy that will apply to all procurement contracts that go out from the GNWT going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table "Virtual Care, Recommendations for Scaling Up Virtual Medical Services, Report of the Virtual Care Task Force, February 2020." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Does the Department of Health and Social Services have, or will it be developing, a virtual care strategy so that Northerners can have a clear understanding of the GNWT's view on its future role with Northwest Territories' healthcare system? Thank you.

I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to what the top three reasons for the increase to medical travel costs are.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess I was looking for our worst-case scenario, rainy-day scenario, but within the forest management budget, most line items are going up, and there is one notable line item that has come down; it's materials and supplies. I'm wondering if -- oh, sorry, that's purchase services. I'm wondering if the Minister can actually speak to why that line item has come down substantially. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, medical travel is a necessity of life in the North. The prohibitive cost of delivering all services to all 33 NWT communities, paired with the global shortage of healthcare workers, requires Northerners to travel to larger centres to receive specialized care.

Virtual care, specifically Telehealth, has been part of our northern care landscape for decades, helping the North increase client access and reduce costs to our healthcare system. Canada was an early driver of virtual care, but quickly fell behind other nations. Given our growing medical travel costs and the spectre of...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Further to my colleague's questions, if we do have a bad fire season, and it is our responsibility to pay for it, and we blow this budget, how do we end up paying for a bad fire season at the end of the day? Thank you.