Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that. I guess I'm trying to understand this debt because I keep on hearing numbers, $67 million. Now I'm hearing $67.6 million deficit. Is this $67.6 million debt the most current accurate picture of where our situation is in regard to this authority? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess this is just going to go around and around in circles here, but, again, my constituents are not getting a fair treatment. We are seeing this, and it is consistent, so maybe the airlines are out on mechanical and they are having that problem. So, if this service continues, will the department look at alternate solutions to provide these services, i.e. local airlines or another airline company? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So will we see an increase next year for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, once it's all in one package? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the Minister for the answer. I heard that yesterday. It is about patients. It is about their care. That is my concern, is that I understand we rebook, we reschedule, but the thing is that I have people who go out for appointments who miss. It could be a week, a month, it could be two months, three months down the road, and this is a huge concern for these people. They brought this concern to me, and I appreciate the Minister is going to look at it for the Nahendeh, but can the Minister tell us if he has contacted the Department of Infrastructure, who is responsible for providing this...

Thank you. I guess my last question, I hope, is just in regard to the communication strategy that we're going to get out there. Does the department have a communication strategy going forward and that we're able to share with the constituents out there? I mean, again, I think the Minister has heard some of the concerns. Previous people were saying, "Why are we doing this and that?" When we are going to be doing these enhancements, are we able to communicate this information and it's just not going to be confidential? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that explanation. It does help. It gets that information out there so people understand it better. I guess my last question is: if the youth's parent/legal guardian can't sign the consent form and they don't use the children's lawyer, can the department sign the consent form so the information can be shared with the guardians and their MLA? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that answer. Again, I can speak on what I've been told. I just have to tell you what I've been told. The praise from the constituents who have gone out for the treatment didn't come here. They've been very supportive of it. If you can pass on the message to the staff and say that they're going out and getting the training and tell them they're doing a great job and that. When you talked about replacing the equipment, was it a huge cost to be replacing this, or is this going to be a capital item that we will be seeing in the fall? Thank you, Mr...

I appreciate the Minister for that clarification. It does help a bit. In regard to this children's lawyer, are the youth able to communicate with this lawyer to say that they can share their story with their parents or their guardian?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess this is going to be the area where I am going to go with it. We have heard about chemo, the treatment here being changed and to update our staff. Now we are looking into April, from the last thing I have seen in the news in here. Can the Minister please provide us an update on exactly where we are going on it? Because I have a number of constituents who have to make the trip to Edmonton. They are concerned. They would like to be able to do it here. Can the Minister please provide us an update on the status in this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I again thank the Minister for that answer. I appreciate that, and I will be able to get that information to the parents and guardians in future. Mr. Speaker, if a youth becomes a ward of the department, can the youth sign the third-party consent form so information is shared with their legal guardians, parents, grandparents, and the person's MLA? Presently, we cannot seem to understand who can get this information out there.