Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my Member's statement with some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My first question for the Minister: does the department track how many patients from the Nahendeh riding missed appointments or have to reschedule appointments because of flight changes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does Wrigley have their homecare position filled right now? A full-time position or indeterminate half-time position? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Right on. I hit the ball. In regards to the home support workers, can the Minister advise us the status of the new positions that were implemented last year and if those positions, especially in my riding, were for home care support workers? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I do. Thank you. The next question: FASD and autism, is this in this section here? If it isn't, can the Minister advise us where it is? Thank you.

Thank you. Is this the area for mental health where we are talking about those new positions, because on page 177, it talks about -- oh, never mind. It answers my question. I have no questions in this area, Mr. Chair.

That was a good little humour, and I thank you very much. So what I'll do is I'll get the chair to give it to me; we'll work on that. In my final closing comment here, I have to applaud the department. I've said this before in my reply to the budget address, and I have to applaud the Department of Education, Culture and Employment for taking this unique way of doing things. I mean, I was a little skeptical or concerned with it. I had long conversations with the Minister and people back home on this, and I, again, thank the department. I thank them very much. It is muchly needed, and I'm just...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that answer. It was confusing. He cleared it up very perfectly, so I thank him very much. Those will be my questions for this section. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess my concern is the job evaluation process. I've seen, in other departments, the process take up to a year, and that is a huge concern for me, especially with the need for these positions. In my riding especially, some of the challenges that we've been facing. So I guess my question is: does the Minister feel comfortable that these job evaluation processes are going to go smoothly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that. I guess my big concern is we start at five. We're around 20 now. If we continue to do it, it's just going to keep on going and going and going. I understand the department needs to do research on it, but at some point, I mean we just got to bite the bullet and do it.

I really think that this needs to be done sooner than later. I honestly believe that needs to be done during this 18th Assembly because, again, if we wait until the 19th Assembly, then we're going to see more increased costs. I guess my concern or my hope is that this will be...

Child and youth mental health workers here. This is the section. Can the Minister provide us with an update on what's happening with these positions for the Deh Cho and the Tlicho please? Thank you, Mr. Chair.