Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the bottom line in this whole issue is about the people and the service people need, health care services. Mr. Speaker, I am sure you are aware that a number of Yellowknife MLAs for the last few weeks have received many calls. I have received calls from patients, doctors and nurses who are feeling a great deal of pressure at the hospital and who really feel that they cannot do with anything less.

Mr. Speaker, I do not think I am interested as much in the process of what steps are taken to go through this budget review process, because I do not think this is about numbers. It is about people and services. I would like to know what safeguards the Minister is talking about to ensure that the services provided at the hospital will not be reduced in this process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Health, Ms. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services of this government provides a budget to the Stanton Hospital based on their projected needs for financial resources. It is in the neighbourhood of $50 million a year. When the board does run into a deficit situation, the cause of that deficit is very carefully analyzed. I think that most people would agree that the people who receive services at Stanton Regional Hospital do receive a very high level of care and service there.

We have a complement of very dedicated specialists, nurses, other health care professionals who work there. It would not be the intention of this government to see those services impacted in a negative way. We have an obligation. We have a statutory obligation to deliver good quality health care services to the people of the North and if there are efficiencies that can be realized without negatively impacting the quality of the services, those are the kinds of things we are looking at when we talk about deficit recovery plans. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I must say I am encouraged by what the Minister said previously and that is that she will look at the overall picture of the cost of delivering health services, which I think is necessary. I do not think Stanton hospital is just a Yellowknife hospital. It serves the North and it has services that are not available elsewhere. The point is, Mr. Speaker, that we have had nurses here at our constituency meeting who are literally crying about the pressure they are under.

We have specialist doctors who are threatening to leave. We have people who are telling us that experienced nurses are leaving and they are being replaced by much less experienced nurses, putting more pressure on it. I wonder if the Minister could advise this House what she is looking at in terms of looking at overall health care costs of the whole Territories, so she could somehow prioritize the needs so that basic essential services for all people are provided at Stanton hospital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Health, Ms. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is not obviously involved in the direct day-to-day operations of Stanton Hospital. We have a board of directors that makes decisions with respect to the hospital. The names of those directors come forward from people in the community as individuals who have the respect of their fellow citizens. They form the board, which is headed by Larry Elkin, who is a person well-known to this government and very competent. Then the management of the Stanton board also is very involved in the day-to-day operations and management.

As a department, we are there to ensure that they have adequate financial resources to carry out their job. We rely on their judgment in the area of some of these things. When Ms. Lee refers to the concerns that have been raised by frontline workers and patients and residents of Yellowknife, certainly we understand the concerns that came about as a result of the announced amalgamation plan and perhaps there should have been a better job done in terms of communication and consultation, but I do want to assure the Member and the constituents that she represents that the delivery of good quality health care services to the people of not only Yellowknife but this region is a very high priority of this government.

Indeed, we are faced with escalating costs. There are a number of cost drivers over which we have no control, which will continue to raise the cost of delivering those services. It is a priority of this government to meet those needs. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make sure that the Minister understands and could she confirm that while we realize that there are regional boards, the Minister is in charge of the health care system, and we as the Legislature are in charge of the system? Would she not agree that we have an obligation to make sure there are enough funds to provide basic health care services, notwithstanding the fact that we have a very competent chairperson on that board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will concur with the Member that indeed we are responsible for the delivery of the services. On a day-to-day basis, we are not in charge of managing the delivery of those services. However, I like the word the Member used in her Member's statement, which was the word rationalize. We have 42,000 people in the Northwest Territories. We have an obligation as a government to ensure that they receive good quality health care services. Certainly we need to rationalize the distribution of resources and the delivery of those services. Yes, overall, we are accountable for the health care system. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the last Session, I had asked the Minister of Health about a problem we were encountering with regard to medical travel and compensation with the residents of Kakisa. At that time, I had stated that there were no health care providers in the community and we were having problems obtaining referrals for travel. To date, I have not seen any developments. I would like to ask the Minister what she has done on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do have a tab in my briefing book here under Members' issues, medical travel in Kakisa status report. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the up-to-date status of that issue is not contained in the binder. It is missing, but I will undertake to get an updated report for the Member on that subject. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Rightly so that tab should be blank, because it is my understanding -- I just came from the community -- that there has been nothing happening on this issue. I would like to ask the Minister if the commitment she made in her answer during Session was that she would have someone go into the community and explain the process. I would like to ask the Minister if the commitment is still there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if indeed that has not already happened, yes, the commitment is still there.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in her response to the question in June, the Minister referred to communities such as Kakisa as poor communities with unusual circumstances. Since she has recognized the community as such, I would like to ask the Minister if she would consider utilizing some of the facilities such as band councils to deliver and assist some of the residents with processing their claims and those documents? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not understand the question. Could I ask the Member to repeat the question for me? Thank you. With respect to the quote from the Hansard in June, I do not recall referring to Kakisa as a poor community. Certainly, perhaps, a remote community. Perhaps a small community, but I do not have the benefit of that document in front of me. Thank you.