Thank you, Ms. Mathison. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You have page 171 in front of us, and I am being told that I can't get clarification on where the money is going? That, to me, is very unacceptable, but I will keep on with my statement. What I am trying to point out is the disparity between health centres and community clinics compared to three designations and possibly only one designation with Stanton. I would like to see how much is spent south of the lake at the hospital designated there. I would like to make comparisons. That's the way, usually, budgets are done. Obviously, I am being told that the numbers are not here. I think that I would like that clarification as soon as possible, because I think there are a lot of disparities in this whole COVID-19 situation that we are in. A lot of procedures were lost at some health centres just before the pandemic hit. I think that it is extremely important that we, as MLAs in this Assembly, understand that a lot has to be improved to ensure that the communities and the regional centres are also looked after to our very best of our ability. Considering that I can't even get breakdowns of figures that are put in here is unacceptable. Again, I am going to ask you the question. I would like to know, with the $134,607,000, how much is being spent at Stanton, how much is being spent at the Inuvik hospital, and I want to know how much is being spent at the Hay River hospital.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will look to Mr. Cooper to see if we have that number for the breakdown. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Cooper.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We will certainly get that information. The reason it is not part of the package is that there is a process. After we go through the departmental budget, this money then gets dispersed to the authorities, and they have their own budget process that we participate in approval. We certainly will get that information and make it available to the MLA.
Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Let's go back to the $73,936,000 for all of the community clinics and health centres. I would like a breakdown of all of communities and how much each community gets and the health centres and how many they're allocated. That is part of my question. There is too much disparity here, and I am concerned about healthcare access by all members of the Northwest Territories equally, especially in the communities. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. When we're looking at the budgets, the majority of the budget goes to authorities. Like Ms. Mathison and Deputy Minister Cooper have mentioned, once we do the breakdown, then they have their own separate budgets. This is something that we could look to the authorities to get more detail. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.
Madam Chair, I think I am making myself very clear. I am not saying I want a breakdown of every little item that goes to -- I just want to know the exact amounts that are being allocated, okay, for each community, each health centre, and all the hospitals.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, this is something we can look at getting. I am sorry I don't have it in front of me right now, but we can get back and provide a breakdown. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
I don't have any further questions, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any further questions for this section? Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Madam Chair. The interpretation services that I spoke about earlier with the statement and questions, I'm just curious: how many staff do we have on board with the new Stanton Hospital, and which category does it fall under? Is it Indigenous health and community wellness or hospital services, is my first question? Masi.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Does Mr. Cooper have the breakdown of numbers handy? Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Cooper.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't actually have the precise number here in front of me, but the interpretation services is funded through the regional health authority budget.
Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Madam Chair. What would be the regional funding allocation? Are we not on that page? I'll ask another question, Madam Chair. As you can see, I'm trying to get to messaging, importance of languages. The Northwest Territories has 11 official languages. Here in the House, we have two interpreters per individual who speaks the language. With the Stanton Hospital, do we have just one interpreter for patients who speaks the language? Let's say, for example, Tlicho. Do we have one interpreter or two or three? I'm just curious because we have so many patients from across walks of life in the Northwest Territories, all communities, 33 communities plus Nunavut. I'm just wondering if we have the capacity to provide those services to our patients. My question is: for one specific official language, let's say Tlicho, do we have one or more individuals working at Stanton in a given time, like one day, Madam Chair?
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier today, we talked about in the House how many different interpreters we have at the Stanton Hospital, and we have interpreters for seven of the different languages that we offer here in the Stanton Hospital. As for the amount of how many staff we have at any given time, we'd have to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Further questions?
Masi, Madam Chair. If the department doesn't have that information, I would really appreciate, at any given time, do we have one interpreter or two interpreters for one language at the Stanton Hospital? It will be information if they can provide that, if they don't have it now, at a later time.
Madam Chair, on page 173, if I can ask one more question, that's On-the-Land Healing Fund, $1.825 million. My question to the Minister and to the department: is that funding adequate? Because we're servicing 33 communities, and $1.8 million can only spread so much throughout the Northwest Territories. As you noticed here in the communities, there is far too much violence, elder abuse, and substance abuse in our communities, ongoing, steady, and yet the funding is so low. Why is that? Masi, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The funding, we also received some federal funding as part of the wellness population funding. That is in the tune of over $11 million that we dispersed out to the Indigenous groups for on-the-land programming. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Further questions from Member for Monfwi?
Madam Chair, I am assuming that it's been identified as part of the regional contribution that the deputy minister has alluded to earlier. If I can get the breakdown as well on the funding level because I've been questioned from my constituents on the on-the-land healing program. Especially, we've had so many passings in my region over the last several weeks, there is a huge demand for whether it would be a treatment program, treatment centre, or a healing fund in my region, not only in my region but in other regions, as well. If I could get the breakdown because I'm very interested in what kind of funding is allocated, if it's adequate enough to support our constituencies. I'd appreciate more detailed information to come, Madam Chair. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister, can you make the commitment to provide that information?
Yes,
Any further questions, Member for Monfwi? Member for Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My questions relate to the increase. When you look at the overall budget from last year to this year, there is a $16-million increase. Can the Minister explain how it jumped up $16 million for the overall?
Thank you, Member for Twin Lakes. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. If you look at the difference for the revised to the main estimates, a lot of our programs have increased. I'm going to ask Mr. Cooper to answer.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The majority of the increase, $10 million, is relating to a new accounting treatment for the Northern Wellness Agreement. It used to be that we would have the Northern Wellness Agreement money recognized as work performed on behalf of others, and now we've brought it in as revenue. That has added $10 million you're seeing throughout the budget, with the UNW collective bargaining increases. Those would be the two biggest reasons for increase.
Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Twin Lakes.
Thank you. I'm going to go into the expenditure category, grants and contributions. The big part of our budget here we've spent is on that grants, contributions, and transfers. Where is that going? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The increase in the 2020-2021 budget of 13.4 is due to the increased wages for positions as per the negotiated collective agreement between the GNWT and the UNW, which is about $2.6 million, the increased wages with the health and social services authority and the Union of Northern Workers. It's also a reflection of inflation on supplies. It's also an increase to reflect costs associated with the contract negotiated with the NWT medical association for physicians. The additional funding is also to operate the new Stanton hospital and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the additional funding for Health Canada funding on mental health and addictions, the bilateral funding. Those are some of the reasons of the increase on the grants and contributions. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Just to clarify, those items that you just labelled, those are what we are spending those grants and contributions, that total $243 million on? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister.
Madam Chair, I can get Ms. Mathison to answer.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Mathison.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The $243 million that is there under grants and contributions, $230 million of that goes to the authorities to do all of the work that you see above in the program detail. All those activities are flowed through there for grants and contributions. The rest of it is held here at the department and given out to a variety of recipients under each of the programs in those areas. Thank you, Madam Chair.
