Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to pick up where my colleague Mr. Bromley left off, with some questions surrounding respite care again.
If you look at the Minister’s intentions, they are good, expanding respite care around the Territory. Mr. Speaker and Members around this room and in this House will agree that is a noble goal to expand this respite program around the Territory. It was included in the business plans that the committee went through just about a month and a half ago, Mr. Speaker, but something happened between those business plans and a decision to get rid of the funding, the $250,000.
I would like to ask the Minister, she mentioned THAF and THSSI funding being different, but did the department and did the authority not know during the business plans that the respite care program funding of $250,000 was not a target when the committee met with the Minister back in September? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t want to be rude, but the way this Member keeps interpreting what I am saying and me answering, it makes everything so confusing. I will just try to clarify this. As the Member knows, it is true we just went through the business plan process. There was a budget there for respite care. Yes, of course, I knew what was in there. The department knows what was in there. Like I said before, that money has nothing to do with YACL or respite care program for Yellowknife. I said that many times during the two weeks. That was money for respite care program for communities outside of Yellowknife. The money for YACL comes through THAF or THSSI. We just approved that two days ago for year 2010-11. The reason why it didn’t go through the main budget is because it is extra money we got from the federal government and they are being treated as a IV and V, which is accounting language that I don’t want to get into, but we had to get it in as a supp. We approved that for $250,000 for 2010-11. We just did that two days ago or whenever we did that, Mr. Speaker.
There is nothing confusing or unclear about this. We have two-year funding and we will work together, and I said that this morning, or this afternoon earlier, that we are going to come up with a territorial respite care program. We are going to combine the money we have. We are going to use the resources in the department to continue providing funding to the families. Thank you.
Yes, the Minister says $250,000, there was two years of funding, but the reality is the respite care program for $250,000 is only being funded for one year. I’d like to ask the Minister how she found out about the proposal to cut the $250,000 out of that program. Mr. Speaker, she talks about communication and coming back to the Standing Committee on Social Programs. I found out about this cut at my constituency meeting from a constituent. How did the Minister find out about it? Thank you.
The Member is right that we just approved $250,000 under a supp appropriation for ’10-11, because that’s how we do our budgeting. We approve one year at a time. The budget for ‘11-12 has not been before this House. Now, because we have gotten money, on a time-limited basis for THSSI and we found, like I said before, we pay for doctors, nurse practitioners and everything else, all of the authorities are working together to see how we transition and we exit out of some of this funding. So that’s under discussion and that hasn’t been before this House, Mr. Speaker. The authorities are working together with the department on how we transition those. Thank you.
The Minister didn’t answer the question I had. I mentioned in my previous question I found out about the funding cut at my constituency meeting. How did the Minister find out about it? Was it at her constituency meeting or did some of her staff actually tell her that this was in fact going to happen, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
As the Member knows, the authority communicated to YACL and said that this funding program was ending and they would like to work on a transition program and an exit strategy. They proposed to the association that we should work on doing an evaluation, which are all the things that the authority should be doing when a program is expiring. I have approached the association to see how we can work on this exit program and those kinds of discussions continue. The important point today is that we will continue to discuss with YACL on how we exit this Yellowknife program, because as a government we would like to work on one territorial respite care program and I will be coming forward with it to the standing committee on how we go about doing that. If we use THSSI money for ‘11-12, that’s an option. The important thing is everybody has made it clear to us that this is an important program not only for Yellowknife but for everywhere and if we make that decision, then that has to come through the main budgeting process and it’s a priority decision. That’s something I can only do with the support of the Members from the other side. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Time for question period has expired. I’ll allow the Member a final, short supplementary. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The THSSI money that the Minister talks about, somebody somewhere made the decision to spend all that money on the Foundation for Change and, Mr. Speaker, I’ve spoken many times about the government’s inability to deal with the root causes that are plaguing the health care system in the Northwest Territories, the unfunded positions and the list goes on. I’d like to ask the Minister who made the decision to spend all the money on the Foundation for Change, because that discussion never took place with the Members of this House. That was a decision by somebody else, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you. The Member is once again mixing up the message, misinterpreting. Mr. Speaker, we’ve had detailed discussions, and the Members and standing committee know this. THSSI funding is a major initiative by the federal government. We’ve spent medical travel out of that, we pay for our doctors, we pay for specialists, we pay for midwives, we pay for dialysis, we pay for diagnostic imaging. Mr. Speaker, should I repeat that 10 more times? The Member will not hear this. We pay a lot of money on that. It’s wrong when he says that we don’t know how we are spending this money, you’re spending on brick walls, you’re spending on Foundation for Change. Mr. Speaker, he has a right to ask questions, but he has no right to misinterpret and spread myth out there, Mr. Speaker. He has to stop. That’s just not helping the public.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
---Unanimous consent denied
Item 9, returns to written questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item number 7, oral questions, on the orders of the day.
---Unanimous consent denied
Item 10, replies to opening address. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item number 7, oral questions, on the orders of the day. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent denied
