Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would encourage them to do so and only working as we normally do through the various Health and Social Services authorities and their budgeting process, which ties into the broader GNWT budgeting process. But the starting point would be for them to pull together their requirements and work with the local authority and then on through there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice...

(Translation) During the pre-budget consultation, I heard loud and clear that the people want to see more justice dollars allocated to on-the-land corrections camps. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what the department is doing to encourage and facilitate on-the-land corrections camps? What is the department going to do to work with the communities to assist them by the way of funding and providing advice and how to access programs and set up an on-the-land corrections camp? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some have been very successful and others not so. I was concerned about the length of time a review would take, so I've asked the department to speed this process up. I think we already are aware of several of the shortcomings. We know that we can't force inmates to attend such camps. We know that only those who are not a threat to themselves and/or others are going to be eligible. I think we know that we really tried to make the model too much of a business model where we were looking for somebody to come forward, be very entrepreneurial, also have counselling skills, and be able to deliver programming, and I think we made it much too cumbersome and convoluted. I'd like to simplify it and work with the Members on the other side of the House to see if we can't come up with a model that would allow us to roll something out by April 1st. I will be approaching the Members, as a start, to sit down and talk to them about what I think and what they think would be the most viable option. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister please tell the House what barriers or challenges the department has encountered that hindered the on-the-land corrections in the NWT? I know that we had some on-the-land houses, but they have been closed. What is the Minister doing about that?

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the problems we've encountered is operators have made a significant investment in infrastructure on the land and incurred quite an overhead to get up and running, and then we had difficulty attracting inmates to those camps. With a significant overhead, it's hard to make a go of a program or project of that nature. So I think one of the best things we can do is talk about no permanent structures. This really doesn't need to be about much

more than some tents and some equipment. The concept and the idea is paying restitution to the community, and I think that even if we can't deliver significant different types of programming, we can certainly have inmates who are willing to go out on the land with an elder or respected community member and potentially hunt and bring meat to those who can't hunt for themselves in the communities. I think there are some things of that nature that we can do that will be much more workable than some of the programs we've tried in the past. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, another question. Will the Minister comment on working with interested communities such as the Tlicho Wilderness Program to address these obstacles and get on-the-land programs running for these people? Will they reallocate or rebuild this kind of facility in our area? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Bell.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I'll work with the Member and the Member's office. I'll also work with the regional leadership to talk about where the best location might be for such a program. I think this will be something that doesn't need permanent infrastructure, so it will be portable. I'm certainly willing to sit down with the Member and talk about his region. I'm eager to get this concept rolled out. It is our wish to ensure that this option is available for inmates. I think it can be very successful if we approach it in the right manner. I look forward to working with the Member in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last question: Will we be provided with the proper adequate funding to re-establish the on-the-land corrections camps? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe we can accommodate that. I know that we have had funding in the past for wilderness camps that we're not using currently. We have one adult facility at Kozo Lake in the south, and I think we have about 11 inmates there and that is, and has been, successful. But we can ramp up, and should it require additional funds and require me to go back to the FMBS and back to the Assembly, I would be prepared to do that. But I think the nature of the program that we're talking about is something that can be accommodated from within existing resources, at least initially. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the people of Deninu Kue, in fact, had the benefit of a very long-term experienced nurse in the community, but made it very clear, and very publicly made it clear, that they were unhappy for a number of reasons to the extent that the individual in question chose to leave the community. So now we're faced with the situation, as we have been in other communities in the past, where the provider or the nurse has left, and in a time of tight staffing we have to struggle to accommodate on a rotational basis, on a short-term locum basis. We are interested in every community, if we can, to have long-term nurses, long-term staff in general, but it has to be clear that this is a two-way relationship and that these people in these professions are very, very mobile and they will not stay in communities where they think that they are not really welcome. They are, as well, as I've indicated in the past, a very small fraternity where the word gets around. So, yes, we are prepared to work with the community to see what we can do about re-staffing, but very clearly we are going to have to work collaboratively, recognizing that it's going to have to be a welcome work environment for the professionals to stay. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that, that they are going to be working with the community to establish some kind of collaborative working relationship with the community and the employees with the Health and Social Services department. I just wanted to ask the Minister if the Department of Health and Social Services can alleviate some of the communication gaps

that are happening, because we have these short-term rotational nurses that are working in the communities right now and a lot of residents go see one nurse and get one answer, and then six hours later they go see another nurse and they get another answer. There seems to be some miscommunication happening with the nurses and the doctors that are located in Hay River. I'm just wondering how the department plans on, or if the department can actually get the health authority to help the nurses that are there on a rotational basis to make sure that they're giving the people the right answers and referring them to the proper doctors and referring them when it's actually required. How can the authority help with that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.