Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have been, for the last number of years, providing some in-kind support through staff and actually assigned staff, a couple of years ago, to participate in helping the office find some process improvements to streamline processes. We continue to have staff members who are supporting the office with their time. That's how we have been dealing with some of the workload issues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is a lot of work that needs to be done there, and if the department has been providing it in kind or through contract services or just leading the support, perhaps an internal reallocation to actually give them another staff person is long overdue, especially if we are going to meet the business plan goal of lowering that wait list. I wanted to move on to the FASD diagnostic clinic that MLA Cleveland started on. This is another one of those areas. Can I get the total budget of the FASD diagnostic clinic and whether there has been any increase to that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
I have to find out which category it is in. Maybe it would be more efficient to ask Ms. Mathison to answer this question. Thank you.
Ms. Mathison.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have the details on the exact budget number for the FASD clinic. There were resources added to the department's budget a couple years back to increase the capacity there, but the exact budget amount would be a budget of the authority. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is this the part of the budget where midwifery services are found? Thanks.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes. Apparently, this is where they are found.
Thank you. Member.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. This sort of goes back to my colleague from Yellowknife North, not knowing where to ask questions with this department the way that the budget is set out. I will stop there. Is there any funding in here to carry forward the implementation of the territorial midwifery program? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. If I recall correctly, there is an intention to hire another person who will carry out the planning that has started for expanding that service, but for certainty on that, I will ask the deputy minister if he could speak to it. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Cooper.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is funding in this budget for midwifery, obviously. We have a territorial manager that was hired in March of 2020 and is currently engaged in design work to help build the vision for the territorial program, lay the foundation for the midwifery teams to come, and we do have recruitment ongoing for a midwifery position in Yellowknife. Job evaluation is currently ongoing, but we expect that will be out soon. This is money that would have been in prior year allocations. What we are doing is, with the benefit of those resources, we will engage in a bit more planning over this year, which is a wise thing to do when you have new resources and the evolution of primary healthcare the way it has been. We are going to have an opportunity to revisit our business case, and we expect to have this work completed by May of this year.
Thank you. Member.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks for that information. The difficulty is that I see midwifery services as a long-term investment that will help us avoid costs, actually, down the road. I think this is probably the 17th time I've raised it in five years. I had understood that we were kind of stalled, and there wasn't any new funding in here. I think that's what I had confirmed. This work to sort of reassess where we're at and have a more focused plan or whatever moving forward, that's only going to happen in May. Is it the intention, then, of the department to bring forward a supplementary appropriation to start to complete the territorial program? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know about a supplementary appropriation. It maybe could be included in the next budget. There is actually quite a bit of work that needs to be done here to make sure that we are taking into account the primary healthcare reform and the teams that are being created, that we take into account the number of staff who are currently involved in births who are not midwives, that we look at our sustainability plan, that we continue to budget for a deficit in the health authorities. It sounds fussy, but there is a lot of work still to be done. In order to get more information to you about that work, we have committed to updating the 2017 plan by June. We have implemented five of 10 recommendations. There are five left. We want to give you that information to understand what work is still required before we start hiring midwives proper to deliver that service. We don't have questions about the value of the service. That is not a question. The question is how we are going to resource it. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thanks. I appreciate that. The problem is this is the way to resource it. We are dealing with it right now. If we don't have any money built in even in a contingency kind of way, I am worried it is going to slip again. That's the dilemma I'm in as a Regular MLA. I am sure we are going to continue this discussion, but I did want to move on to the stabilization plan for the NTHSSA.
I raised this with the Minister, and my mind's kind of fuzzy; it might have been yesterday, and the Minister said that the plan was really not a public document. It was really an operational sort of document. The offer had been made to us as Regular MLAs to get a briefing on it, which I am happy to accept. It's out there in the public that there is a $120 million deficit, and my view is that this is chronic underfunding of the system over many, many years. This is not something that just kind of cropped up in the last two or three years. I don't understand the secrecy around this plan and why we wouldn't be able to share parts or all of it with the public, to be more transparent and open about how we're going to try to address this as a government. What is the Minister prepared to do to try to make this a more transparent process? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. The Member is correct. I did say that it's an operational plan, I did say that I would brief the committee, and I did say that it would not be made public as a plan itself. I think that, once the plan has been made operational and we have a better understanding of what the cost drivers are and what kinds of changes need to be made, then you will be hearing about those specific changes. For example, we just had a conversation about what is a core service and what isn't a core service. I think that that's the kind of conversation that we're going to want to have with the residents of the NWT, so that there is an opportunity for input and buy-in to the work that we're undertaking. However, that is what we're offering. It is not a secret process. It is the way that the authority is looking at stabilizing its finances, and that's not a public process, any more than us having a look at how you manage your family finances is a public process.
We need to be able to do that work and then come with the findings and ensure that people understand what those are, what kinds of compromises need to be made. Make no mistake, there will need to be compromises. We cannot continue to increase the deficit at the level that we've been increasing it. We are going to have to make some tough choices here, and there will be unhappy people. I absolutely guarantee it. I'm not happy about that, but in order for us to make the coat out of the cloth we have, we're going to have to cut some things. What is that going to look like? Honestly, I don't know. I want to hear from you about what you think it is going to be, but adding on and adding on and adding on is just simply not in the works. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I appreciate what the Minister said, but if you want the public to have confidence in what we're doing, we need to open the books a little more, I think. This is not about me straightening out my finances; this is about public money, and where difficult decisions have to be made, the public has a right to weigh in about how those decisions are made. I think we've got to find a way to allow for some public input and greater transparency in the whole effort moving forward. I think that's all I've got on this, Mr. Chair, but I'd like to move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.
The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? Opposed? One opposed. The motion is carried.
---Carried
May I have the report of the Committee of the Whole, please? Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act; Committee Report 8-19(2), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on Motion 5-19(2): Referral of Point of Privilege Raised by Member for Monfwi on March 10, 2020; Committee Report 9-19(2), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election; Minister's Statement 77-19(2), National Housing Co‐Investment Fund; Tabled Document 165-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 1-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 166-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 2-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 167-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; and Tabled Document 286-19(2), Main Estimates 2021-2022, and would like to report progress, and Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.
Thank you. Do we have a seconder? Member for Thebacha. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Orders of the day for Friday, February 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.:
Prayer
Ministers' Statements
Members' Statements
Returns to Oral Questions
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to Commissioner's Address
Petitions
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Motions
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
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Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act
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Committee Report 8-19(2), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on Motion 5-19(2): Referral of Point of Privilege Raised by Member for Monfwi on March 10, 2020
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Committee Report 9-19(2), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election
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Minister's Statement 77-19(2), National Housing Co‐Investment Fund
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Tabled Document 165-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 1-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT
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Tabled Document 166-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 2-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT
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Tabled Document 167-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT
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Tabled Document 286-19(20), Main Estimates 2021-2022
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Mr. Clerk. This House stands adjourned until Friday, February 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 6:02 p.m.
