Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the most recent civic election here, we heard a lot about the problems of downtown. I am sure it is no surprise for the Minister of Health, and that he knows that many people will go without having a place to go home at night and many people are in the throes of addictions. Thankfully, of course, we have a downtown day shelter, which I am very grateful for. The fact remains that it is still only one component of a larger problem here that is on the ground.

Over the years I have heard lots of concerns from parents, citizens and constituents, as well as downtown...

I guess the only thing I would ask is if the Minister would keep me up to date as to the progress on this initiative. That will be all. Thanks.

As I understand it, there are still a few other authorities out there as well. If I’ve understood my facts correctly, I mean, over a period of a fair bit of time, every authority has had some type of difficulty or challenge with this issue and this could be a solution. I am just curious as to why the Minister would say it in a manner of building their business case. Have they not seen or recognized this as a particular problem and a potential solution?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to make sure. I was just looking at health services programs, and I understand it’s a bit of a challenge here in some particular regions where they qualify for doctors under their health portfolio of funding, and in some cases they’re unable to hire physicians. There has been a logjam on the policies. I understand it’s some method, and I’m just trying to hash it out here. It may take a bit of work to get to the bottom of it.

As I understand it, if you have doctor money, it’s meant to be spent for doctors, but in some cases they can staff positions in some...

I’m happy with that at this particular time.

On another issue, Mr. Bromley has brought this up and actually it’s not so much that I’m concerned on how he brought it up but it’s more about the perception of how it’s brought up. It’s about the city’s potential on the Con Mine heating system or how they want to do a central heating style system in Yellowknife; the city, that is. I often hear people at the city talk about how they’ve got all these partners in some form of some type of commitment, and it’s funny because when I talk to businesses downtown, they’re not interested in this. I don’t know who the city thinks they have on the hook...

I would like the assurances and commitment that the Minister will ensure that I’m copied in some way on this particular initiative as this policy gets developed. The reason being, there are a number of institutions, businesses, that is, that sell art in this community and they would view this as competing directly with them. I would want to make sure that their concerns are being represented. If it is to be on display, as I continue to maintain, I have no issue with art being on display, but the issue is that all of a sudden the assumption that while people are viewing it for potential sale...

No, thank you.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. In Saskatchewan, to name one, Ontario, to name two, and there are several others, they’re quite aggressive and provide kiosks and public advertisements all over the place saying you could do this type of service.

Quite frankly, what does “we’ll look at it” mean? The general public hears that answer almost the same as maybe yes, maybe no. It doesn’t really have an answer. What does his answer mean by “we’ll look at it”?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried