Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Just looking at the allocation on the information items kind of attached to the active position summary, I'm just trying to figure out, with the position summary and the salaries, is overtime included in that number, or does that come later? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. What I'm looking at is: can the Minister tell me, for the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services, the $295 million, is that all salaries? Or what is the breakdown of that number? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Just to touch on here, I would like to know, since it falls under here and now that we're sitting under this, there have been a lot of concerns raised with medical travel and some of the places where they have to stay where there is not enough food for some of the residents who I've gotten complaints from, so how do we assess that? Is there an assessment over these places or questionnaires that go out to people so that we know that we are providing enough funding so that, when people are travelling for medical travel, they are meeting the needs of the clients when they are...

I'll move on to the next section. The medical travel benefits, we've got $19 million and then $15 million and $15 million. The $15 million for medical travel benefits, is this just for non-government travel, medical travel benefits? Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just kind of confused, just knowing my process now. The main estimates in 2019-2020 were the same as the revised estimates, so there was no supplementary appropriation in that section to my knowledge. I'm trying to figure out what exactly did we spend, or what are we not spending, or where did we cut $2 million out of this budget? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes. Looking on page 183, the extended health benefits, can the Minister explain how, this year, they expect it to be less than previous years? Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am just going to ask these two questions, just in regard to the budget. Can the Minister provide figures on paid overtime just so we can get a picture of what we pay in overtime in the health authority for 2018-2019, if we don't have the calculations from 2019-2020? Thank you.

Knowing, within my past experience, looking through the collective agreement, when somebody is here for up to 48 months, they get 100 percent removal. If they choose to stay on past that and sign on as an indeterminate, then there is a removal, and this is what staff look at: the years that you stay within the government, you get so much percentage of removal. When it used to be up to 48 months, if they decided they loved the place that they're living, they would comfortably move into an indeterminate. Can the Minister explain to me why this change was made?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to know if the department can tell me, in the 2018-2019, just so I can get a picture of what extra costs in overtime the NTHSSA had to come back for, to this government, well, not this government, but the previous government, to ask for, just related to overtime in the NTHSS? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to discuss the nursing shortage in the NWT and how our hiring process is working against us. As someone who is very familiar with the hiring practice in this area as well as the difficulty in staffing healthcare professionals, we need to look at how we do things. In my experience, it's more beneficial to be hired as a locum than it is to sign on as indeterminate. There are also times where staff choose not to extend terms or do not want to take on an indeterminate position, and instead choose to become a locum or work short-term casual contracts because...