Mr. Speaker, we already have unanimous support from all the Premiers around the table. Every one of them without exception has given me that support. I have not asked them to take and make motions in their Legislative Assembly. I've not gone that step, but, Mr. Speaker, I don't know if they'd feel comfortable doing things about another jurisdiction within their jurisdiction. We certainly have statements of support from those who have come here, and many of them have. We will continue to do that.

Mr. Speaker, I want to build those coalitions with them. I want to build it with the aboriginal leaders. I want to continue to build it with the business community. We have been working closely with the Business Coalition as well. We will continue with those and I want to do it with your support as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to the Minister of

Municipal and Community Affairs and they're in relation to the issue of proxy votes as they pertain to municipal elections. Mr. Speaker, my concern goes back to the 13th Assembly with the territorial government. When I first ran, there were very loose rules for proxy votes. There was a major court case in the Thebacha riding revolving around proxy votes. Legislation was changed; they were limited, but not eliminated. In the 14th Assembly, further changes were made where proxy votes were eliminated. Other options were put in place: mobile polls, special ballots, extended advance polls. I've noticed over the last few municipal elections that you can still, in a municipal election, get pieces of paper, proxy forms, and a person can just go up and down the street and collect votes.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, is there any consideration being given to bring the municipal voting regulations as it pertains to proxy votes in line with the standards that are there for the territorial election? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Local Authorities Elections Act provides for the use of the proxy votes. A number of issues have been brought forward over the last while regarding the Elections Act. We have looked at laying out a process to do a review and we are, right now, in the midst of putting together a discussion paper and we're expecting that to come out at the end of this calendar year or very early in the new year, and I would expect this would be one of the issues that would be covered. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that information. Could the Minister indicate the steps once this document is in? Are they anticipating that any changes would require legislative changes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The time frame around this whole issue regarding some of the issues that have been brought forward under the Elections Act, these concerns are being researched. The time frame we're looking at, as I stated earlier, more than likely early in the new year. We don't anticipate that we'd be in a position to change legislation in the life of this government, but it would be something that we would expect would take place in the new government of the 16th Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final supplementary to the Minister would be, as we look at the transition from the 15th Assembly to the 16th and the work that's being done to ensure that there's continuity, would the Minister commit to ensuring that in the work that's there, that's put on the rails, that the target date is prior to the next set of municipal elections territorial-wide three years from now? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if I'm in a position to commit to something of that nature. There are a number of municipalities that have elections coming up on a staggered basis. So I will commit that this is an issue that's been brought forward by a number of municipalities and also the NWT Association of Communities has this on their radar and it's something we are in a position where we're doing the research. We will lay out a number of the different issues, a number of the concerns that are out there, have discussion with the stakeholders. We will try to fast-track this as much as we can; however, I cannot make the commitment that this will be something that will be in place before the next election that the Member is referring to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are going to be on the review of the situation at the Stanton Hospital. But seeing as that involves both Health and Social Services and Human Resources and we don't have a permanent Health and Social Services Minister yet, I will direct my question to the Minister of Human Resources. I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, given that whatever comes out of this review, I'd like to ask the Minister as the Human Resources Minister whether or not the government will be able to meet the deadline that was set by the former Minister of Health to finish that review, at least the preliminary results anyway, by the end of next week? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been working with both departments looking at the previous work that was done and fine tuning the previous human resource survey that was done in that facility and updating it and be prepared to bring it to Members to have a look at that and then set up a procedure for moving forward. So I believe we can meet the commitment that was made by the previous Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I'm prepared to accept being compassionate and considerate that the government may not be able to meet this two-week deadline, but I would be happy to just have the government follow up on the commitment made by the previous Minister that there will be a review of what is happening, all the array of staff issues and morale issues at Stanton Hospital, and that it will involve a direct communication of the CEO and the deputy minister, if necessary, with the front-line workers division by division. That was a big commitment. That's more important to me than meeting the strict deadline that was committed to. So would the Minister of Human Resources commit to meeting that requirement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to the involvement that Human Resources would be involved, we will be supportive in the initiative that commitment was made in this Assembly not too long ago. From the Department of Health and Social Services' side of the equation, we are looking at the process that was discussed and the plan was put there. A lot of initiatives are underway and we want to meet the commitment that was made here in this Assembly and we'll work towards that end. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That answer was so general it's really hard to tell whether he is saying that he'll go with state of the status quo, the way it is now with the existing guidelines, or whether or not government is confirming its commitment made by the previous Health Minister that it will really take a look and be proactive to figure out what is going on at the hospital and what government has to do to fix it. So will the Minister commit that very specifically to the Stanton issue, not just human resource issues in government in general as he's stating? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Roland.