Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a couple of areas, Mr. Chairman, that I would like to raise with this at this time in general comments. I am aware of previous work that was going on within the department to try to address some of the increased cost pressures the department was facing. I am not sure if anything has come out of the initiative that was undertaken, especially when I was involved in the department myself. As well, I have had opportunity to view the transcripts of the committee and there are a number of points there that -- I do not know how else to put it -- I am concerned with upon seeing some of the information.

Mr. Chairman, in particular in the area of cost drivers and pressures, we have heard this across Canada; of the costs increasing and one of the initiatives as well, as we were looking at in the 13th Assembly, was in the area of nurse practitioners. We have not heard much of that area for quite some time. I would like to know from the Minister if there has been any further work done in this area.

As we know, we have a lot of small communities that do not have doctors. We have nurses in these communities that have to take on a lot of extra duties.

Along that area to try to help remote communities out was the area of telehealth, so we would not have to medevac as many patients out because of the concern of diagnosis or misdiagnosis. There was work being done in that area and that is an area where again I have not heard much about as we go into year two of our term.

I know it was fairly new when we first looked at it in the 13th Assembly and some work was going on. I know there have been connections made with Inuvik and a few of the larger health boards. I am not sure if it was at that time being used to the best of its ability in a sense of reducing some doctor visits.

I have heard comments from individuals and from those involved in the field to a certain degree where patients would be seen by a doctor through the telehealth. They were quite impressed with being able to do that, but still having to come down and see the specialist in Yellowknife and be sent back home again. It is almost seeing twice. Once through the telehealth system and then coming back down and being seen again.

We can all pull examples out of stories we have heard or people telling us directly of some of the concerns of being flown down here and then being flown home the next day because they saw the doctor for 15 minutes. That is a concern. You would think those cases could be dealt with through the telehealth system instead of having someone on the plane down here and going back shortly afterwards.

I am not sure if that is associated with the fact that there has been a high turnover of doctors. It is a concern that is there and needs to be addressed. These are on the ground, day-to-day issues for health practitioners that impacts the department because of the costs of initiatives like this and the cost of medical travel.

I would like to know again, specifically in those areas of cost drivers and what we have done to promote nurse practitioners in the Northwest Territories. Where is that work going? Is it ongoing? Are we going to hear something soon? I know there has been some support initially from doctors in the Northwest Territories. I think that was conditional. I do not know if we have moved much farther than where we were over a year ago. So if we could get some information on that, Mr. Chairman.