Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to ask some questions on this Med-Emerg contract. I noted in the document the Minister tabled today that this contract is a value of $701,750, $200,000 of which is for expenses for travel and consultation. I note in the document that the Minister talks about the requirement to have this document completed in the 97-98 fiscal year. My question is, when was this first thought about and when was it first conceived that we needed this plan?

Thank you, Madam Chair. It was early fall of last year when a lot of the pressures, in respect to the Iqaluit and the Inuvik hospital projects, came on line in identifying the need for those facilities to come on stream. At that time, we recognized if we were to do it, we could not just independently put two hospitals out on both ends of the Territories without knowing what kind of services would be provided there and within the overall health care system of both new Territories. Madam Chair, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that is the first time I have heard hospitals brought up. Is this the main thrust of this study, to find out if hospitals are required, east and west?

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, it is not, Madam Chair, that was the thing that instigated it. Many Members know the Department of Health and Social Services was going through some major reforms in some of the programs they had. I had mentioned and have spoken to many of these, the alcohol and drug treatment one, the human resource one, the long-term care one, the core needs, and those types of things that were ongoing projects that impacted the whole territories. That was another issue that brought to light the need to have some co-ordination in the overall health and social services reform of the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister mentioned they had started this process last fall. My understanding is the department was also in the throes of hiring a strategic planner for the department. Was there some indication that the strategic planner could take on the responsibilities of what Med-Emerg is doing? That we could have developed this report in the North, designed by northern people, for northern people?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the strategic planner with the Department of Health and Social Services is a co-ordinating role, to try to bring together some of the information that we have in the department and would be required through this whole strategic planning process. It was thought of whether or not we could do it in-house. But because of the time frames, even without the time frames, it was a significantly sized project given the magnitude of the Territories and the magnitude and breadth of programs and services that the department provides. It was felt to be totally objective. People that were not directly involved with health care or social service care in the Northwest Territories could possibly have a better objective look in respect to what they see as wrong and what they see as right with our current programs and services, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would like to make it very clear that I believe it is important, and I have spoken a number of times before, to have a much larger view of this. I am not saying we should not or could not use the expertise of people outside of the Northwest Territories. I had the opportunity to have lunch with one of these teen. I believe there were 17 of them who were interviewing in the department. From my discussions with this lady, it did not seem to me there was a requirement, certainly for this initial phase, of needing an awful lot of medical background. The terms of reference is reviewing a lot of work that the department or other departments of the government have already in place, through the Statistics Bureau and so forth. The point I am trying to get at, Madam Chair, is that we are spending $700,000 on the initial phase of trying to collect information. I have absolutely no doubt, and I am sure the Minister is well aware, that there are consultants within the Northwest Territories who are certainly able to do a lot of the leg work and could have collected all of this data for these so-called experts. I find it disappointing this revenue is going south that could have stayed in the North. I am saying we still can use the experts from the south, but do not forget that we have experts in the North, too, that could have contributed to this. I am just wondering what the great rush was to not give that some consideration. There was one firm, at least from the information we are getting from the Minister, that was picked to do this. It was already there. Was no one in the North? My question to the Minister is; is this going to be a consistent emphasis that will be coming from the department? That the south knows best and there is not any part that we can do in the North with our own forces?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I recognize that when we made this decision, there would be some controversy because of the fact that we might not have gone to northern consultant firms. There are, I agree with the Member, a lot of good consulting northern firms out there. The bottom line in this decision, Madam Speaker, is the fact that we did not believe a northern consulting firm could bring together the multi-disciplinary qualifications that some of the personnel that Med-Emerg International had available to them, in this short of a time frame to do the analytical requirements of scoping out our programs and services, based on their past experiences with other jurisdictions and their past experiences in other health and social service program system, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like some comments from the Minister as to why this had to be so rushed. Did no one think of this two years ago? Are we that far behind? If we are making a snap decision to spend $700,000, I would think we could put a little more effort into finding out if there are resources available. We have, as a government, been telling companies that are doing business up here, such as BHP, "you will hire this number of people." We are talking about partnerships here. If we have expenditures this government is responsible for, surely we can take some of these consultants from the south and tell them, "Look, we have consultant firms here in the North. We would like to ensure that you are using them." What is happening here is the exact same thing that is happening with some of the mining initiatives that have gone over the years. They fly in, fly out. There are a lot of consultants here in the North that could have participated in this work, did the leg work for these experts to participate with. That is the point I am trying to make. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the concern with the timing, to me, was a valid one in respect to the commitments I had made in this House to Mr. Roland and to Mr. Picco, in trying to bring on stream the start of construction for both those major capital health projects in their communities. Recognizing the Department of Health and Social Services, we had to know where we were going before we could do some of the planning for those facilities, in conjunction with the boards that oversee health care operations there. We had to have something in place by late 1997, in order to make some budgetary planning for the 1998 fiscal year, Madam Chair. That is the emphasis and the rational for the essence of the timing on this project, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Madam Chair, to date the department has provided funds to cover medical travel based on historical use. There has not been a formula approach taken in terms of allocating dollars on a per capita basis. I think we are moving in that direction. It is far more complicated, though, as I am sure the Member is aware, than simply a per capita basis, because the proximity to facilities and physicians varies for each region. There are a variety of drivers that are involved. I think the most critical area here and one that I believe every board has responded to positively, is in developing the information that allows us to assess why travel is taking place and to encourage a far more aggressive case management approach, so that every person who needs to travel may be accommodated or supported without the high cost medical travel. Thank you.