Denny Rodgers

Thank you. And that is, indeed, excellent news, and I'm sure it's excellent news for those that have been struggling with our medical travel system for the past several years. Just, again, a final question. I mean, likely it's a redundant question given how this government has now been approaching what we do, but she will be engaging and consulting with all Indigenous governments on this plan, I assume? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I understand there's a policy for this. What I'm saying is that if you have an elder, is there not a way and I get that, you know, there is the different plans out there. But, again, you have an elder who whether they're going down to have a hangnail removed, it doesn't matter. If there's an elder and they don't speak English, they need to be navigated, they need help navigating even to get to their appointments, is there not something we can do to kind of streamline that so, again, that paperwork is not being done. If there's not anybody in and medical travel is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, travelling for medical appointments in smaller communities in the Beaufort Delta can take a toll on patients, either to follow up for appointments for routine procedures or for a more serious condition. Both physically and mentally, we are all aware of the toll it takes. Now, Mr. Speaker, imagine if you are an elder and English is your second language and you're from a small community in the Beaufort Delta, having an escort to assist you is essential. Mr. Speaker, I've heard too many times that the onerous paperwork and bureaucracy to have an escort...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I echo the comments of my friend, MLA from Range Lake. I'm not saying he stole my thunder; I think he's added to it. But it's good to hear that because we hear that a lot in the small communities, and often times you wonder if the MLAs outside of the smaller communities understand what it's doing. Because it is destroying small communities, not just it's not just a problem, it is destroying small communities. Drug addiction, the influx of gangs, the influx of drug dealers, is destroying it. And I bet to say every MLA here from a small community will tell you...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but I'm sure I'll be corrected if it's not. I guess you could look at page 72 in the business plan or you could look at page 126 in the main estimates but, again, I talked a little earlier about having the right people in the right place doing the right work. Can the department speak to what it's doing with the regional director position that's been vacant for four years in Inuvik and where that sits now?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the committee would like to consider Tabled Document number 09320(1) tabled on May 24th, 2024, and with the departments of EIA, Justice, and Health and Social Services for consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight is pleased to provide its report on the 20242025 Main Estimates.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, the committee of course, of the 20th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories is charged with the responsibility of providing oversight over the business and budget operations of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The purpose of this report, Mr. Speaker, is twofold:

To provide publicly the position of the committee in their review of the proposed 20242025...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm very happy to hear that. And I know the Minister realizes that this is not this is not a new concern, something that's been just brought to the forefront.

Can the Minister elaborate a little more, I guess, on medical travel and the plan? Is medical travel in its entirety undergoing a review, or are we just looking at kind of the escort side. Maybe the Minister could speak to that. Thank you.

I now move that the chair rise and report progress.

You know, could I have been a little more aggressive in some areas? Absolutely. And I guess we can all say that about our ridings and individual things that we want to see action based on the business plan and things that are in here. But, yeah, overall, it's a great document, and I appreciate the work that the departments did putting it together. It's a bit of a read, but certainly, it's yeah, so you know, I can point to specific things that I'd like to see but, Mr. Chair, I'll save those for when we go through the main estimates, as we will be going through by department by department. I...