Thank you, Madam chair. First of all, as had been discussed at the tail end of the discussions yesterday, the bulk of the changes in regional social service offices moving to boards is captured in the community programs and services activity, as opposed to the support in health service administration activity. We regret any confusion we may have caused. In terms of the grants and contribution increase, the most significant area of increase in grants and contributions is in the area of medical travel. It is one of the key cost drivers that we talked about and certainly has been an area that had been habitually under funded and is still suffering from growth. There is $6.5 million for medical travel. There is $1.72 million in physicians inside the Northwest Territories. There is an increase there as well in grants and contributions. We have some significant offsetting reductions. $1.5 million is being reduced with respect to reduction in expenditures on non-medical escorts. There is approximately $800,000 being reduced in terms of contributions to the Stanton pool of specialists, specifically related to changes that are being proposed to reduce the premium on pension contributions for the salaried specialists. That is speaking to the grants and contributions. Those are the main areas that reconcile the change in that area. As I pointed out earlier, none of those are related to the social service changes. That was an error on my part and I regret the confusion. Thank you.
Mr. Ramsden on Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 20th, 1997. See this statement in context.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 19th, 1997
Page 748
Ramsden
See context to find out what was said next.