Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. It is not just Tuktoyaktuk or the Beaufort Delta in these types of circumstances. We found over the course of the past couple of years, and certainly over the past few months, that there has been more than a considerable strain on the nursing profession, and nurse practitioners throughout the Northwest Territories as a result of the increasing recruitment from other jurisdictions, other countries, particularly the United States.

As the honourable Member noted, I just came from a federal/provincial/territorial Health Minister's meeting. It is an issue that is not just within our jurisdiction, but certainly, a national problem as well, particularly in the rural areas and the remote locations of the northern provinces that operate very similar to the Northwest Territories. What we have done, Mr. Speaker, is quite frankly, we think there has to be a long-term solution in having Northerners recruited and placed in positions where they can hopefully, will stay and provide service to their own constituents, whether it is in their home community or certainly in the Northwest Territories. That is on a longer scale.

On the short-term, right now we are doing some work with our partners, the boards in trying to identify where we can fill in on a short-term basis, some of the immediate needs. We certainly have a concern in this area, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I had indicated, the department is working with boards throughout the territories to try to identify where the short-falls are, both on a short-term basis and on a medium-term basis as we know. When people give notice of their intent to leave and also knowing where some of the short-term replacement personnel may be for some of those boards and yes, we plan on putting in place after identifying those factors putting in place a plan to try to address the issues of services for constituents throughout the territories. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the honourable Member's immediate concerns about Tuktoyaktuk, I can certainly provide that information to him as soon as it is available, but as I indicated, it is a territorial issue that has to be addressed on a territorial nature. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is a follow-up to Mr. Steen's questions. My question is directed to the Minister of Health. It is concerning the two communities I represent, Igloolik and Pond Inlet. These two communities have the same concerns and their population is about the same with over 1000 people. They usually have two nurses on staff and have a very heavy workload. They work the majority of the time where there is usually only one or two nurses on staff. I wonder if the Minister can tell me when these communities can expect to get more nurses? Thank you. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot speak on those communities as to when they may expect to have any additional nursing resources available to them because that responsibility lies with the board. Right now, our main focus as I indicated in my reply to the honourable Member for Nunakput, is trying to fill the vacancies with an existing nursing staff positions that are vacant. Before we can even look at expanding that, we have to deal with the existing shortfalls Mr. Speaker, with our partners, the boards. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Evaloarjuk. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is there a policy in place indicating how many nurses there should be in a community according to their population as this is very important to me and what the policy is? For instance, if there are 500 people in a community, how many nurses can they have? Thank you. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you. Mr. Ng. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, there is no policy to my knowledge. Staffing has historically been set at the time of the 1988 federal transfer. The territorial government, at that time, the resources which were in place in the communities were transferred. Subsequent to that as a territorial government passed on some of the responsibilities to the boards, they made some adjustments within their service area in recognizing some communities growing faster than others and the needs of their communities in their service area. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Evaloarjuk. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ng responded that for Nunakput there is a territorial-wide issue. Would the Minister of Health be able to tell us whether there is going to be more training for nurses in the north from the communities? If there is no training of northerners, what happens? (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you. Mr. Ng. (Translation ends)

Mr. Speaker, I have been in discussions with my honourable colleague, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment particularly about nursing programs and it is one of the areas that is in our Recruitment and Retention Plan that we plan on moving forward on. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you. (Translation ends) Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, last year the Baffin leaders meeting in Pangnirtung, and again this year they are meeting in Iqaluit, passed a motion supporting the Iqaluit homeless shelter. This past summer, the building was condemned by the Department of Health and was closed. The shelter was running at approximately 120 percent occupancy, Mr. Speaker. In conjunction with several agencies in Iqaluit and our local Northwest Territories Housing Corporation office, we were able to fund a new building and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the Housing Corporation for his pro-active work on this. I am wondering at this time, if the Minister could update us on that project, the homeless shelter in Iqaluit? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Arlooktoo.