Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an administrative process and not an attempt to deny any Northerners legitimately due or necessary medical treatment. No one will be denied and no one will be sent a bill. If there is a problem with renewal of health care cards, we will work with the individuals to make sure they get the proper card and they are in the system as they should be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is for the Premier. It's with regard to the success that we had in the past few weeks with Ottawa and with our sister territories on the heath care funding deal. Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, while the Premier was concluding those arrangements, the Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine, made a statement in the House. I will quote from that statement: "That the Prime Minister has directed the Clerk to develop a process for addressing per capita funding inequities by April 1, 2003, and the fiscal challenges facing the territories generally by April 1, 2004." What I wanted to see is if the Premier could give us more explanation of the approach that we might be looking at, especially in terms of the idea of fixing the financial challenges that we face in general. How are we going about that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Premier of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week following my return to Yellowknife and to the legislature, the Secretary to Cabinet, Liz Snider, had the first face-to-face meeting with the Clerk of the Privy Council Alex Himelfarb in Ottawa and had the first discussion with the federal official at that time. There is an agreement that, by the end of March, we will know the details of the process that will be used to address the fiscal challenge that the North faces as acknowledged by the federal government and how that's going to be done. Keeping in mind that we have formula financing negotiations coming up, there's an agreement to meet again in about two weeks, on March 10th. They have confirmed the substance of the meeting that we had with the Prime Minister, because there were none of our officials present at that time, just political people; the first face-to-face was held to confirm what was discussed there. That the $60 million is, at this time, understood to be available over five years in the three territories but, the discussion is still open to possibly three years. It is a full amount but it could be topped off in the coming year pending the discussions that we are going to engage in. The Prime Minister has committed to being kept informed of the discussions and that we will be meeting again in the next two weeks. The Minster of Finance, Mr. Handley, is also engaging in the discussions because of the tie-in to formula financing negotiations. Thank you.

Supplementary. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess through this, can we anticipate or should we be anticipating a major restructuring of the financing deal that we now have with Ottawa? Thank you.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, we hope that many of the shortcomings that we have in the formula financing arrangements and the funding arrangements that caused difficulties with the federal government over the years will finally be addressed. As to whether or not we will be totally satisfied will remain to be seen. We are optimistic because the Prime Minister has personally made a commitment to initiate this process by asking the clerk of the Privy Council to lead discussions on it, and he has asked to be personally informed of the discussions that will lead to some changes. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, over the years at one time or another, certain aspects of this deal seem to come up and be problematic. The per capita issue is probably the most recent one. We've also dealt with what some people fondly or otherwise know as the perversity factor. We've had difficulties with Canada and the census numbers and there is kind of a litany of things that, at one point or another, collide. I'm wondering if the Premier would give us a sense of the top two or three issues that he sees that need to be addressed and resolved. Thank you.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, we have initially set out to show the priority that health funding has to this government and to the people of the Northwest Territories and I think that message has been received in a very clear, resounding way across this country and with the Government of Canada. This will continue to be highlighted in our discussions. It has also paved the way for the federal government to acknowledge that many of the programs that are provided to us on the per capita basis simply do not make any sense. Tying in with this, will be the nature of the formula financing arrangement. Many of the elements that constitute this basis of this agreement are really at a no win for us because we end up being penalized for initiatives and don't benefit as other Canadians do when programs are initiated and funds are made available across this country.

We know that an increase is going to become more important to us. As we push major development projects we must find some way before devolution finally happens and when devolution happens that there be a net fiscal benefit to this government when we are advancing development projects such as diamond mines, and oil and gas and pipelines. This government should never have to fiscally spread its resources so thin that it affects health services and the social network that is so badly needed in our communities. So those are the prevailing thoughts that we have as we look at the upcoming discussion. Thank you.

I would just like to remind the House that we have certain rules. In regards to the Members, when you direct your question, direct your question so that you are getting an answer. Also for the Ministers on the other side, if you can be specific answering the question, keep it short, brief as I have quite a few people on the list and I know we don't have much time. So I would just like to mention that we do have other Members out there who want to ask questions, so be brief, be specific and be to the point.

---Applause

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand the issue is still being discussed. We, along with other jurisdictions, use Edmonton for health reasons. I've made our case but it's a significant municipal issue and it has not yet been finally resolved as far as I know. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What would be the effect in the Northwest Territories on our health and social services system, if the municipal airport was to close down in Edmonton, how bad an effect would it have on our medevacs here in the Territories? Can the Minister bring us up to date on that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we would continue to have medevacs as required to Edmonton. The difference would be the location where the plane would land and the need for a longer travel time from where the medevac arrives in Edmonton to whichever hospital the patient is being medevaced to. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess the issue with the airport closing down is the time that it would create on the other end for patients trying to get to the hospital. Does this government have any input with the Alberta government or the city of Edmonton in expressing our views as to how important that municipal airport is for us and our medevacs? Do we play any part in that at all in any consultation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.