Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this was a question that was asked of us by the Standing Committee on Social Programs. The support that goes to boards includes direct funding for the nurse educators, plus a budget allocation for these educators to travel to the respective communities, $315,000; the professional development fund, $269,000; all expenses for regional representation at the recruitment and retention steering committee meetings, that is unbudgeted. It is reimbursed based on participant cost. There is also support that is provided to boards for site visits for potential candidates to come to visit communities. This would be a nurse or a social worker who might be interested but wants to come and visit a community to see what it is like first, $75,000; support to communities, this is financial support for physicians to complete locums in different communities, $200,000 to the boards; other support, including funding to allow RNs to attend conferences, for professional development, allocating funds for other health care professionals to complete practicums in the Northwest Territories communities, $30,000; and $2,046,000 to boards for recruitment and retention bonuses paid to nurses. This includes a recruitment bonus that is paid upon hiring and a retention bonus that is paid in September based on percentage of the RN service.
In addition, there are a number of joint department-board strategies, which includes recruitment information packages. There is quite a list that has been provided to the standing committee. I am sure we could make a copy available to Mr. Roland as well. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.