Thank you for that. I will be watching this issue and will pursue it at a later time.
I see on page 6-22 it says that this division is responsible for physician negotiations, vital statistics registration, acute and long-term care planning and other things. I just want to throw in here a question about the fact that the physician negotiations have been completed and the contract is good for the next four years. We know that the
bargaining is going on between the government and the UNW that includes the nurses and other health care professionals. I wonder, because I am very intrigued by what the Minister had to say about configuring and looking at different ways of delivering different health care programs in the city that includes consolidating some of the clinics, I appreciate that this is at the very initial stages, but I did not get a clear picture of this. I know the Minister is telling us we have to wait until Cabinet has considered this, but that's not good enough. In light of the fact that we are approving the budget for the whole department for the next year, this is setting out the work of the department and the government in Health and Social Services for the year and we should have some say in that. I think the government and the Minister have some obligation to let us know what's going on.
Even if the whole thing is subject to approval, the Minister must have given thought to this. If there are any plans to consolidate or reconfigure health facilities in Yellowknife, I would think the Minister should be talking to health care professionals and doctors, the people who are on the ground having to live the changes. I would like to know what sort of consultation the Minister has done in terms of just talking to the stakeholders about looking at the flow of the patients and where the most demands are and how best these programs can be delivered. I am sure the Nurses' Association or Medical Association and every other health care provider in the city would be happy to talk with him about what they see as areas that the Minister should pay attention to. Could the Minister give me any idea of what kind of work he has done in that area? Thank you.