Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about the management of health authorities in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, this issue is nothing new to anyone sitting here today. I and other Regular Members have been asking the government the entire time I’ve been here for a better way to fund and manage our health care system. Mr. Speaker, the government continues to take the easy way out when it comes to dealing with deficits at the authorities. They continually throw money at it through so-called one-time funding requests or through supplementary appropriation.
Mr. Speaker, let me recap one-time funding and appropriations to authorities: 2002-2003, $3 million; 2004-2005, $2.2 million; 2006-2007, $2.9 million; 2007-2008, $4.9 million; 2008-2009, $25 million; for a total of $38 million. Most of the trouble it would seem at the Stanton Authority started after the board was disbanded in November 2002. In April 2003, then Health Minister Miltenberger issued a press release where he stated it is important that Stanton Health Authority have a fully functioning board to provide leadership and direction to the organization. Mr. Speaker, here we are eight years later and still no board at Stanton. The red ink continues to spill and the government has no answer to the management and financial control over our health care system.
Mr. Speaker, you would think that for a government that is on very shaky financial footing, that we would have taken steps to get financial control back from the authorities. Mr. Speaker, what we should do immediately is collapse all authorities, establish advisory boards in each region, establish one board of management for health and social services with balanced regional representation. We must get financial control back. It will lead to more seamless and effective management of the resources we do have, the mobility of health care professionals, equipment and the provision of services will improve under one board.
Mr. Speaker, this is something the government must act on, and while we’re doing this we should also address the issue of the employees at the Hay River authority, include them once and for all in our system.
Mr. Speaker, I’m at a loss as to why this government has not acted on this matter and somewhere around the next corner there lurks another supp, I am sure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
