Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, as we all are aware, there are many appointments to boards, agencies and commission positions that are either the responsibility of the G.N.W.T. or are done through statutory appointments by this Assembly. I believe that, except for cases where either specialized knowledge, circumstances or skills are required, every effort should be made to appoint Northern residents to these positions and that a condition of such an appointment require ongoing residency in the N.W.T. If a person moves outside of the Northwest Territories, as we’ve recently seen using the example of one of our...

Mr. Chairman, I think this is an example of where we’re sending people to Edmonton, to the Capital Health Authority, for a service that I think we could provide here at a similar cost. If we’re going to pay $664,000 for this, if you’re adding the cost of the assessment, not including the travel and whether it’s getting somebody out of a community, which costs even more than it costs to get out of Yellowknife, probably double or triple…. If you have to send somebody with an escort or if it’s court-ordered, whether you have to send them with a professional such as somebody from the sheriff’s...

Sorry, Mr. Chairman. You flew through page 14 a little too quickly. I had a question on a couple of items on page 14.

Mr. Chairman, if I got that right, we had 607 assessment days in total. Now, was that all court ordered? What is the cost of a psychiatric professional if they were to be staffed at this end? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I am looking for some detail on this process where we are adding money. I think, as I understood earlier, it’s federal base money, so whether it’s catching up to the times and actual costs or not, I just want to make sure this money is going to those who need it the most.

I want to find out what services have been increased. If we’re not increasing services, I’d like to know what has been tamed down, if it’s paying debt. Anyway, I want to know the details of the $403,000.

I’m just concerned that, if we’re offering these services of psychiatric assessment in the Northwest Territories, as the Minister seems to allude to, why are we not sending these folks through this court-ordered process to the professionals that we have?

Mr. Chairman, can the Finance Minister clarify for the record who would own this asset, and maybe explain to me how that would be different in the case of Nahanni Butte, where, as I understand it, they would own the infrastructure?

Under Courts there is just an observation of $664,000 that is spent on court-ordered psychiatric assessments. My first question on this is: do we provide psychiatric assessments in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Chairman, not to be picky, of course, but in Gametì, there’s a gymnasium and it’s funded through Capital Investment Expenditures, not O&M. Maybe the Finance Minister can explain the difference — why we’ve now agreed it’s not right, it’s not wrong through O&M; now, we’re funding through capital. Can he explain why it’s good for one but not for the other?

First, I’ll say thank you to the Justice Minister who will supply me with that detailed information. May I encourage him not to just stop at the detail I’ve offered. If he thinks something’s relevant to highlight, please do.

The other point I want to make is that if these communities are good enough for MLAs to stay in, I certainly hope that judges are not too good to be there too.