I’ll try to be succinct here. I’d like to start off my general comments by also stating that it’s nice to see that the Minister’s engaged and listening to the concerns of the Members. She’s been very proactive in visiting the communities and making herself very aware of the issues that are facing the Health and Social Services Department. I know from experience that this is not an easy department, and yet she seems to be approaching it with some degree of energy and enthusiasm. I have mentioned to several Members — and not to her face, but several other Members — that it’s reassuring to me that we have a Minister who’s very engaged in the issues and who maybe can’t always give us exactly the answers we want but at least knows what we’re talking about when we ask the questions and raise our concerns.

Hay River is very fortunate. We have had a few challenges in the staffing area. Overall, we have had a fairly stable complement of staff in the Hay River health and social services area. We were fortunate to have Greg Cummings down there acting as a public administrator, and he continues to do so today. He helped Hay River through a very difficult time. That was much appreciated. Now, with the arrival of our new CEO, Paul Rosebush, I think we’re on a fairly even keel there.

Mr.

Chairman, the condition of the Hay River

hospital is not good. I would like to have seen the capital for the master redevelopment of the Hay River hospital and Health and Social Services programs that are run out of there sooner in the

capital plan. We have issues with everything from bats to mould to sloping floors to just an ineffective, non-functional layout of our hospital. I would have liked to have seen it earlier on in the capital plan.

The fact that Hay River is outside the GNWT-wide health and social services system is also a challenge. Somebody made reference to it earlier tonight, when somebody may wish to transfer to Hay River. The flexibility is reduced by the fact that it is a separate union, so people can’t transfer their service with their benefits to the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. That creates some limitations in terms of deploying staff who may wish to….

You know what? I’m just going to stop right there. I have things to say, but I’ll do it at another time. Something I’m saying or doing here is making the Premier laugh, making my colleague and my seatmate laugh, and it’s very distracting and very hard to concentrate. So I’ll save my comments on Health and Social Services for another time. Thanks to the Minister, at least, for listening.