Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding the process and transparency. That's my only focus around this, not about the specifics of what may or may not be happening, so just to make sure it's fully clear. And, of course, the rules of anticipation, so the public's aware, Mr. Speaker, is that we're not allowed to talk about something before the Assembly or coming before the Assembly. So I'm just about the process.

Mr. Speaker, when the Minister will say we have an arm's length process, you know, the reality is the Minister is the arm and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll take whatever we can get and certainly table it before the House would be good for everyone. Knowing that -- also, Mr. Speaker, knowing this information about what the health care czar is doing and knowing that the NWT health and social services budget isn't approved until the Assembly's budget has been approved and is long gone and the House is closed up, Mr. Speaker, for clarity would the Minister be willing to table NTHSSA's draft budget publicly before we review the department of health so we know what we're actually approving, not just the dollar amount, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the last doctor who talked about, if I may say, a soft way complained or highlighted or raised the flag of scheduling and administration, when they retired, they were no longer welcome back. Mr. Speaker, that type of frustration, in other words if you speak out about problems you're going to be benched. Mr. Speaker, what type of environment can we create and foster to get intake directly from the doctors about how we can serve our citizens better in a system that works better and is more efficient? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Referring back to my Member's statement today, I talked about the concerns of our general assignment of doctors or I should say availability of doctors. So I ask the Minister of Health and Social Services is why can't our system be set up in a way that we assign patients to doctors as opposed to the other way around? Thank you.

Just more so around the risk management side of it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm curious on how our debt management will change in the context of borrowing. So in other words, if we borrow money we have to pay more. So I'm just curious on how that strategy's been developed and laid out and would it be part of the business case proposal of the additional $1.3 billion request on top of the $1.8 billion debt limit? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do believe in the concept of Restoring Balance. In other words, I don't factually flike what they're -- the policy is, per se, but I do believe fiscal prudent management is important which is, in other words, why spending of money, an evaluation of what we're doing. Does it become irrelevant if the government was to receive the additional $1.3 billion extension to our borrowing limit, seeing how that exercise should be embedded in every element of government but those targets and principles aligned in that initial letter, does it become moot? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, I want to reaffirm it's about process and transparency I'm after. And just for definition, so people know what it means, a black budget appropriation is when a government's budget is allocated in a classified manner that's secret, Mr. Speaker.

So we don't know what's being approved. So I'm asking with respect to the dollar amounts, what type of public transparency and discussion can we have here in this House and before the public before these types of things are approved? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, when we think of the whole budget -- and I'm not getting into the details of the budget specifically that hasn't been tabled -- it's something in the range of $700 million. We're being asked to take a lot of it at good faith, in other words. That's a lot of millions, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, the Minister says the process. Well, we are in charge of the process. She is in charge of the process. So in other words, the people that can change the process are us. Mr. Speaker, the question really is designed around how can MLAs be informed as to what's actually happening behind the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given that the NWT government has hired the Saskatchewan health care expert, and now I call him the health care czar, to reengineer the NWT health system and certainly given the fact that the Minister has shared with Members confidentially, of course, Mr. Speaker, the mandate of the health care czar, and the only person who can make it public is the Minister, would the Minister be willing to table that mandate letter of the public administrator before the House so Northerners can find out what's actually being directed here and if she can't table it, can...