Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the $3 million is mainly being spent on contract services for the provision of the employee assistance program, in medical bursaries as well paid to health profession students.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

Mr. Chairman, I guess the questions could go on forever here. Could I just ask the Minister for the breakdown on how much money goes into the employee assistance program? I'm assuming that is for the GNWT employees who need counselling service or whatever support there is available for employees there. Medical bursaries and students. Could I just get a breakdown on that, please?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we don't have that level of detail, but I will commit to get that information and I will pass that on.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee, anything further?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe I could squeeze in a question here about recruitment and retention. The activity description reads here that that's what this activity is involved in. I need to raise a question about what has been in the media lately where a doctor was hired in the North to practice, when it was known to whoever was doing the hiring that the doctor had a background history where he was prohibited from having a general practice licence in other jurisdictions. What I want to know is what steps the Minister has taken to prevent that sort of situation from happening again. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we've looked at this situation. We've also asked Dr. Atkins, who does our medical enquiries, to take a look. I'm satisfied that the process worked as it should in the vast majority of hirings. In my tenure as Minister, this is the only instance where I've been called to do the things that I've had to do in this particular area. The system worked as it should, that the people involved in the system engaged in due diligence, that things that happened, which I am not at liberty nor do I think are appropriate to discuss in this House. But the medical professionals and the systems that were there worked. The reality was situations happened. Once the individual was on the job, steps were taken and the system responded appropriately. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee, your time has expired. I'm going to move now to Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue I want to talk about is program delivery support in our communities. Sometimes the way this government operates or sometimes how this department operates is something in the magnitude of how we operate in larger centres. In the small communities we have a small population, everybody knows each other and there are different authorities. Sometimes it's very hard to get services approved or get services requested from our people. I wonder if the Minister has considered in our small communities, such as the ones in the Sahtu, where they could have a community health committee in the Sahtu. In our communities, we deal with the Inuvik Regional Health Board. Some of our communities are negotiating self-government agreements, and it will be a while before that is in place and implemented. However, there certainly needs to be some mechanism or some structure in place in the communities where the communities can feel some ownership. Right now they feel somewhat alienated with regard to the health programs and social services in the communities. I want to ask the Minister if he has given any thought to that.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are two things that I could offer on this issue. The first one being that as a government we've made a commitment and invested considerable amounts of time and money in establishing the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority that will bring into the Sahtu the decision-making capacity and program administration for the people in the Sahtu by the people in the Sahtu. We set up the administration. We have a CEO in place, we're working on the staff housing

issues. There was a considerable amount of work done at the front end with our committee that went around. A regional committee went around the Sahtu and consulted on how best to do this. The direction to this point from the leadership was they want to hold off on setting up the board itself, but focus on administration, which we did. The goal, when we move on the board, which I'm getting some signals is now ready to be considered, would be to have community representation from each community to sit as a board of management providing direction and authority in the delivery of health and social services.

The other broader issue that's going to affect all boards and agencies was touched on, as well, by our Social Programs committee and has come up in this legislature as one of the issues we want to look at. That is the role in the broader sense of boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories, and what's the best structure to in fact have, given the number of boards and in many cases the common mandates and the smallness of our jurisdiction. So in those two areas, I think work will be done and is being done that will make the systems in the Sahtu more responsive to the people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for the answer. The issue, I guess, is it's important that when we're dealing in the Sahtu to feel that we have the ownership of the health and social services in our communities, and we are looking to this government for as much support as possible. Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I'll just ask the gentlemen on the other side of the room here if they could just keep their conversations down a little bit. It's distracting to the Minister and to the speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Deline does have a telehealth site. It's an existing site and it's for primary care. In terms of the kinds of services it's capable of providing, there is a long list like orthopaedics; biomedical services; dermatology; diabetes education; dialysis consultation; ear, nose and throat; some neurology issues; ultrasound, to name a few. Mr. Chairman, it's an issue that was identified by the Social Programs committee and it's one where we haven't had the resources to expand it to the extent that we'd like. It's one that I think has value, as well. We have to continue to work on it. One of the problems is if there's a high turnover of staff, it makes the use of that kind of service more difficult as well, just because a lack of familiarity goes with the patients as well as the staff and the equipment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The last issue I wanted to talk about was the tiny little community of Colville Lake and the status of their health centre and the services that they're getting from this department in terms of medical health services and the lack of training for health care workers. The more we need the Sahtu health board to service that community, because that community is surely not getting the types of services that any other communities are down the Mackenzie Valley. It seems like it's forgotten in some sense. The Minister and I went up there for a tour and we heard a lot from the elders. We heard about the amount of health issues that are happening in Colville Lake and the type of equipment the people have. They're talking medieval tools for health care services, second-hand, hand-me-down medical equipment up there. A small community like that deserves a little more attention. I hope that with the Minister's comment on the creation of the Sahtu health board that we could help our communities like Colville Lake, and other communities in the Mackenzie Valley that are maybe facing the same kinds of issues. I know it's tough on the Department of Health and Social Services. I'm going to state that I will give whatever support that I can in terms of a voice or a letter to Health Canada to pay up their dues. I guess it's just the same old song, and getting the federal government to own up to what they have. Our government has gone to some strength to help our people, but it's the federal government that is not owning up to the people of the Northwest Territories. We deserve better health care than what they proclaim what they have done for us, especially up in the small communities that are isolated and away from the road system and rely on planes. Again, I support the Minister in terms of however we can get that $30 million or more, I'm all for it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Your time is up. Mr. Minister, did you wish to comment on Mr. Yakeleya's comments? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member again raises a good point. This is my second trip into Colville Lake and there are issues with very basic equipment. Because they're small, some of the equipment was maybe not medieval but definitely circa Korean War. Maybe not Korean War, probably newer than that. But it's definitely

second-hand equipment. We have also been to communities where I've seen X-ray machines held together with twine, and nails holding things so the pieces wouldn't come down, and cobbled together plywood benches. So, yes, the issue of basic equipment; we have some money for diagnostic equipment, the X-rays we're going to look at across the land.

The other issue that has come up that is very important is the issue of vehicles in the communities. There's not a set standard. Some communities are very well equipped, some communities have vehicles that are over 20 years old, some communities are forced to share between two separate buildings, one being the social workers and the nurses, for example, one vehicle which tends to be very problematic with house visits. So there are a host of areas.

The other one, of course, that the deputy just mentioned is we have dental therapists that are labouring in communities with no equipment, or equipment that is very old and outdated. So there are pressures on us to do those very fundamental things, equip the staff we have to do the work that they have been hired to do. Thank you.