Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct. We have spent a considerable amount of money in terms of making sure our packages for the allied health professions are competitive. We have some of the best packages in the country as we stand here today. The issue of turnover is one that is of concern. There are still shortages in many communities. In a community like Hay River, one of the issues that come to mind, as Minister, would be why

people would be choosing to leave. Were there exit interviews done? If we have an historical pattern going back over the last year or two that indicates a high turnover in spite of all the efforts that have been made to make the system attractive and competitive, that would be one of the first things that I would be looking at as Minister to try to ascertain, along with the Member, what would be the underlying causes for this. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had occasion at some point to look at the terms of reference for a review that was conducted at Stanton Territorial Hospital. It seemed like the short list of issues that review looked at may have been questions very well applied to our situation in Hay River as well. In terms of getting to the bottom of this, would the Minister be prepared to embark on any kind of a formal process, similar to the one that was conducted at Stanton? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I met a few weeks ago with the board chairs and the CEOs and I indicated to them at that time that I had the intention as Minister and as a system to take a look at each authority and the department and do a thorough review of all aspects of the services that they deliver and how they're delivered, including the human resources side, finances, and the program side. I'd like to do that over the next year. If there's a specific concern that is pressing, then I'm interested and committed to look at, for example as my colleagues pointed out, possible human resource issues. I'm prepared to look at those as well.

Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister mentions the board and the board chair and the CEO. I'd like to ask what the boards' responsibilities are with respect to the human resource management issues on a day-to-day basis. Under our protocol and existing roles and responsibilities, is that something that the health boards are actually supposed to delve into? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the boards currently in place are boards of management under legislation. They have a clear role, as well as we've spent quite a bit of time over the last two years developing a manual and job description for authorities and board members. Their role is not to manage on a day-to-day basis. There is a CEO that reports to each board who is charged with that responsibility. To be clear, while they are boards of management, their role is not to micromanage on a day-to-day basis, but occupy themselves with budget issues, program issues and dealing with the concerns that may arise at the community level, possibly in terms of some of the broad underlying issues that may result in staff turnover. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so it's my understanding then that the boards that are put in place and the chairs are not responsible for these human resource management issues. It's my understanding from having been a Cabinet Minister before that it's not really the responsibility of a Minister to get involved in the human resource management issues. So would the Minister agree with me then that perhaps an independent body to go in and look at this might be the best and the most productive choice in this instance? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

As the Member phrased it, it might be, but it's not a particular course of action I think we want to take first. I'd like to look at some of the issues I raised in terms of taking a look at the turnover rates over the last two to three years and to see what the trends may be. Then we'd have a lot of very capable human resource people that work in other boards and other authorities and in headquarters, both in the department as well as the Executive corporate human resources, that could probably give us a good start in terms of trying to ascertain if there are underlying issues we should be paying attention to on the human resource side. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Inuvik-Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to make reference to my Member's statement. It's in regard to the oil and gas development exploration sector in the Inuvik region. I'm going to ask the Minister of RWED if he would direct his secretariat or directorate to approach the regular process with the intent that we need to have our message clearly given to the various members of that board so that we have certainty in the exploration side of the industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's obvious to all of us that certainty is something that

industry requires if they're going to invest money. I think that certainty will only be garnered by working with the stakeholders and making sure that their positions and their understanding of the issues before them are brought to bear.

Now, I think as it relates to the regulatory process, we have established the cooperation plan, this joint panel review process. It's certainly one that this government is supportive of and has endorsed. I think that doesn't negate the real requirement for this government to get behind this process and make sure that we've indicated it's a priority. Some of our efforts and our funding are going to have to follow to make sure that we pay more than lip service to this priority. I think a great start was the proposal and suggestion by the Member for Sahtu that this Legislature convene a joint committee of Regular Members and Cabinet Members to talk about exactly this issue and others. I'm certainly hopeful that our Cabinet -- I know we're analyzing this -- will be supportive and make overtures to the Regular Members. I think that's a good start. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect, I want to express my gratitude to the Minister for that. Although it still talks a little bit about the pipeline, we still need to give certainty to the exploration companies and that their investment is protected as well. I want to ask the Minister again if he's prepared to develop an intervener status type of an approach that we can give all of our industrial investment some priority in this manner as well, besides the pipeline issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I need a little more information as to what the Member proposes intervener status would comprise, but I think it's important for us to recognize that although this pipeline is the immediate task before us and I believe it's important for the Members of this House to put their efforts firmly behind this, we must recognize that this is part of a much bigger picture. That picture is the Mackenzie Valley development in general. I think that the pipeline is the first step, and once this pipeline goes ahead obviously that's going to open up a lot of new territory for exploration. Suddenly there's a conduit to get this gas to the lower 48 and the insatiable American demand for gas can start to be fed by our gas in the Northwest Territories. I think that will, in itself, provide much more certainty to exploration companies that should they find pools of gas they can now get them to market. This is one of many issues that I think this joint committee needs to take up. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly it generates concern from our constituency in the fact that there was a news release by the spokesman for Imperial Oil saying that they may be looking at Alaskan gas as another prospect. I'm just wondering if we can get a commitment from the Minister if he would now direct his officials to perhaps define whether our gas remains still a priority to the North American gas market. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.