Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister of Health and Social Services, and it's in regards to the constituents that I was talking about in my Member's statement. Mr. Speaker, I brought that up last week and the Minister had indicated that he didn't know enough about it. Since then there has been lots of coverage on that. So I'd like to know -- because I believe this speaks to the weakness in the contingency plan that he has in place -- if there has been any new development in terms of the locum contingency for obstetrics and gynecology. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first I'd like to speak to the issue of the locums and their qualifications. Every locum we hire who is qualified to practice in the Northwest Territories is registered as a medical doctor. There has been misinformation, deliberate or otherwise, unfortunately, it would appear, that leads people to believe that that is not the case. We've also had the unfortunate occurrence last week during Seniors' Week to have a locum's reputation and capability questioned because of his age. Mr. Speaker, we make every effort to bring in only the best locums we can find, and I would also like to point out that every locum that we have ready to work in the Northwest Territories has worked here before, except one. So they are not strangers here, and they are dedicated professionals, doctors, sworn to uphold their Hippocratic oath, and we're very happy to have them.

Mr. Speaker, I said last week, and I'll repeat, that we do have coverage for obstetrics. We, as well, today, have arranged coverage for pediatrics, we have coverage for general surgery and anesthesiology. So we have the coverage we need to ensure that babies can continue to be delivered here in the Northwest Territories and we're going to keep working on a contingency plan. I would just hope that people would put out the best facts they have, and not cause alarm and not make statements questioning the locums when we know in this House that we don't hire anybody but qualified doctors. We can't. Our rules are very clear. We should not be causing needless apprehension among patients and people, women and pregnant women. This is an issue that's very serious and we are working with the medical community to come up with a contingency plan. The medical directors are involved in the development of that plan and they're all doctors. They're all very qualified and specialists themselves who are involved in the development of this. A fundamental priority for everybody first and foremost, as we work through this labour issue, is to make sure that we have the safety of the patients first and foremost in everybody's minds and that they don't become bargaining chips in a process that does not affect them. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure if I appreciated that speech, but I guess the Minister has the prerogative to say what he likes. Mr. Speaker, I could also say that I don't believe the couple that has been interviewed by the media and bared their soul and revealed their private information about the medical decisions they face, appreciate the Minister's accusation that they're out there to mislead the public. I would ask the Minister to withdraw that comment.

Mr. Speaker, I also have stated in this House that none of us here are qualified to make medical decisions.

May I ask you to direct a question to the Minister. If you have a Point of Order, make your Point of Order. If you have a Point of Privilege, make your privilege, or ask your question. Your question, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question to the Minister is that we know, and I know, that he's been getting e-mail and correspondence that I have, that says that the family doctors in Yellowknife and the parents who are expecting babies have no faith in the locum contingent. I'd like to know what he has done, since this has been revealed, to accommodate their lack of faith in the locum contingent.

Thank you. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first let me be very clear. I do not know these people Ms. Lee refers to. My comments were directed specifically at the Members here who have been making comments, who have been making these comments in this forum, in this House. Mr. Speaker, we are working with the doctors to arrange locum care. The GPs are involved. There's a meeting tonight with GPs, we had a meeting today with the GPs and the Medical Association is meeting, I understand, on Thursday. We have nothing but qualified, registered locums coming here, all of who have worked here before.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of forces at play here, and to come into this House and call into question the credibility of all the locums is, I think, unfortunate. The reality is they are very qualified doctors and we are very happy to have them here and in other communities. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the same constituent of mine would say, the Minister is continuing to snowball me into distraction. Mr. Speaker, the fact is -- and I don't think for one second that the Minister is not reading the papers or watching the reporters on this -- we have mothers who are being told to go Edmonton to deliver their babies or induce labour here. There are a lot of extra costs associated with that. The lights are on at Stanton Hospital and nurses are on staff, but no customers. Has the Minister done the calculation of what this overall cost is in hiring locums, leaving the hospital empty and having all our mothers deliver babies in Edmonton and making the Alberta coffers richer by the day? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Member has access to information that I don't have. Mr. Speaker, I just told this House that we have pediatrics coverage, we have obstetrics coverage, we have anesthesiology covered, we have general surgery covered, we have GPs with obstetric training here that are going to work with the specialists that we have to bring in, should that need arise. The Member obviously dismisses that. Mr. Speaker, my information is very current. I met just before lunch, I'm monitoring this thing daily, hourly, and those are the facts as I have them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose I can't do anything about it if the Minister chooses to go by selective information. Mr. Speaker, we have GPs on salary who are not able to do their work because they have no backup service. Why is he insisting on paying these GPs on salary who cannot do their work, and doing nothing about getting into negotiations with the specialists?

The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again let me state that we have specialists. It is now June 10th. We have a contingency plan where we have arranged coverage of qualified medical doctors, specialists, to work with the GPs. We have pediatrics covered, we have obstetrics covered, we have general surgery covered, we have anesthesiology covered. Mr. Speaker, we have all the capability we currently have to deliver babies. The doctors, specialists and GPs are working to ensure the best interests of their patients and it's unfortunate that the Member opposite refuses to acknowledge that fact. I am telling you, Mr. Speaker, the most current information that I have, and that is but hours old. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the formal negotiation process ended about a week-and-a-half ago where the offer for arbitration was rejected after we put a 27 percent increase on the table. So that formal process has concluded, though the offer for arbitration has not been taken off the table. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask what, if anything, is the GNWT waiting for in order to restart negotiations and I would like to stress the word "negotiation," not arbitration? What is it that we are waiting for to get negotiations restarted? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.