Merci, Monsieur President. Mr. Speaker, it has been three and a half years since Stanton Territorial Hospital last had a board. Since that time, this hospital has been under the direct control of the Minister, the Department of Health and Social Services and through a public administrator. In 2003, the Minister, and I have to say with some credible vision, established a Joint Leadership Council made up by the Minister, the deputy minister, and the chairs of all the health and social service authorities around our NWT. The mandate of this council includes providing advice, general guidance to the public administrator on the operation of the hospital. At the time, the establishment of the council was a positive step. Its side benefits included some increased opportunities of sharing information and coordination among regional health boards across our territory. But, Mr. Speaker, while the appointment of the public administrator may have been a good temporary solution for Stanton hospital, the isolated authority should have come with an expiry date. Therefore, the time has come to reinstate a governance board to ensure that public accountability and decision-making is made in a way that is representative of our Northwest Territories.
This paradigm shift could be easily made by simply formalizing the existence of the Joint Leadership Council that the Minister created several years ago, by giving them the governance authority and responsibility for policy development, oversight, planning and budgeting of our hospital. The existence of this council has the capacity to carry out this mandate. They also have the skills. We wouldn’t need to create additional bureaucracy administration. Mr. Speaker, in a territory that is so short of financial funds, this would be a smart and wise use of our resources.
Mr. Speaker, it is time that this Minister take that strident leap and show some leadership and give the governance board back to the hospital. Mr. Speaker, I believe that a formal appointment of the Joint Leadership Council as the new board for Stanton would go a long way in strengthening public accountability and regional involvement in that hospital. Mr. Speaker, it is truly a territorial facility. Mr. Speaker, later during the day, at the appropriate time, I will have positive and reasonable suggestions for this Minister who, I am sure, will be very interested in cleaning up this lack of accountability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
