Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Any response to those comments, Mr. Minister?

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member raises an important and often delegate issue, and that's the need for communities and the people working in the communities -- nurses and other professionals -- to have a relationship. Like most relationships, if they're not a good relationship, then chances are one of the parties will end the relationship. The professional people, nurses especially, are very, very mobile and have the capacity to pick up the phone and go just about anywhere they would like. Most of them come in on a short term, plus they're a profession where there is lots of communication among nurses. So if things go bad in a community, then it tends to reflect badly not only on the nurses possibly, but also on the community when it comes to recruiting other nurses. It applies to teachers and other professions, as well. So we all have to be aware, communities and ourselves and the people working in communities, that there is that need for a relationship. That particular fact I know has in fact ended the stays in different communities of nurses and other professionals. So it's a good point that the Member has raised. It's a delicate one, but it is a very clear fact. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Next on my list I have Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I start, I would like the Minister to clarify a couple points he made when he was being questioned earlier. How I understood his comments were he referred to meningitis as a priority, when it was being brought up about what are priorities and what are some of the pressures of the priorities of the Department of Health and Social Services. He also references the acts in another item when we were discussing about capital cost priorities. If the Minister could clarify for my benefit, let's say for the record, of course. To my knowledge, the meningitis issue was a special warrant issue so it wouldn't have been perceived as a budgeted item, therefore, it wouldn't have been seen as a line item issue that would have demanded pressure in that regard. It was tackled under the supplementary appropriation, so it's a special warrant. If he could confirm with me that the coordination of the acts planned to build a long-term dementia care facility in the Yellowknife area, that the capital cost would rest on the shoulders of that association, not the capital cost resting on the shoulders of the Department of Health. If he could clarify those two points before I proceed with my questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I used the issue of meningitis as an example of one of those big ticket costs that come up that require a significant amount of unbudgeted money, especially in times where there are tight fiscal conditions that require us to respond and that take up resources, take up taxpayers' dollars, take up government resources. So that was the context in which I mentioned that. I didn't mean to imply that it was a capital item or something we knew was coming but didn't budget for. It's something that happened and we responded as quickly as we could.

My understanding in terms of the proposed dementia facility is that the lease cost would be included in the O and M, and those O and M costs would be borne by the department, funded by the department. There is no such figure because the design isn't clear and the staffing complement isn't clear, but we know it's going to be in the millions of dollars. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Minister, for clarifying those questions. Mr. Minister, you had indicated earlier, and may I make very clear to the Hay River Members that it is not my intention to pull the foundation out from underneath the Hay River facility when I question this comment, but my concern is I think you referenced earlier that it costs us $1.6 million to run the Hay River facility, and I think you referenced that it runs at a 25 percent operational rate. Did I understand that correctly? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It runs 25 to 30 percent over the course of a year. Those are the statistics we have.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What did it cost to build this facility?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, that is a bit of historical data. I would offer a qualified semi-educated guess, since I was on the board at the time, it is in the neighbourhood of $3 million, and that is just what I recollect going back many, many years now.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

I am satisfied with that estimation. Proceeding with my next line of questioning. Are there structural problems with that building, that it is breaking into two that this Assembly needs to be referenced to before I proceed to my next questions? I believe it is, from my professional point of view. Could you clarify that for my benefit? Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister. are either working or not working and areness that programs issue is one of the biggest scourges we have in the f sobriety in

Mr. Chairman, there were some structural problems with the foundation that I think were funded and dealt with. There was movement, I think there may have been some permafrost where they built. This was before the time of thermosyphons and those types of technology. There were some problems but they were rectified. I will just get Mr. St. Germaine to maybe expand a bit for you if you will allow that, Mr. Chairman.

Yes, Mr. Minister. Mr. St. Germaine.

Thank you, Mr. St. Germaine. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, officials, for answering that because you answered my next question, does it have continued ongoing structural issues. Now proceeding to the $500,000 referenced in what it costs to send NWT residents to southern facilities. Not being an accountant, therefore, I am now looking for the exact number when I reference this, but as I see we are spending half a million dollars to send people south to a facility. If we can reference in old dollars as a $3 million facility in Hay River, doesn't that $500,000 start to build a case about building a facility to suit the needs that we are obviously sending people for treatment in the South? Does that not warrant a pressing issue? I am not suggesting it is overstepping the need of the Wekweti nursing station, but I do want to stress, does that not stress a capital need to a problem? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, what it indicates as we look at system inefficiencies in economies is that we have a facility that is not clearly, but delivering a program that it has subscribed to as it can, as it could be. The Member for Sahtu just made some comments about other program needs, which I think are accurate. We just have to sit down and look at how we best utilize that facility. It is a very nice facility and I think it has the capacity to offer rotating programs or programs that are going to be more fully subscribed to than the one there currently is. Thank you.