Mr. Chairman, I would think the department would come before the Legislative Assembly and get authority for the leasehold improvements before it would sign a lease. That would, to me, make more sense.

I guess a couple of other questions. The lease that has been signed, how long is it, how much is it for, and how big is the space? I’ve heard 1,800 square metres. Where is it going to be, Mr. Chairman?

The Minister of Finance.

Mr. Chairman, that’s not a part of the capital item. We don’t have that information with us, but we can commit to getting that information for committee.

I thank the Minister of Finance for that. Maybe the Minister of Health would have that level of detail with her today.

Mr. Chairman, I will defer to the Minister of Health to see if she has any further information as per the question by the Member for Kam Lake.

Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have answered one part of that question: 1,843 square metres of space is what we are looking for. I believe we have acquired that with 25 parking spots. It is in the downtown location.

I would also concur with Minister Miltenberger that we will get back to the Member on the details of the lease agreement signed. I would think that there is

a provision in there that it’s subject to approval of this House.

I don’t know if it’s subject to approval of the House. The department has already signed it, so that’s neither here nor there.

You know, what we are talking about today is a capital expense of a substantial amount of money. I, too, like Mrs. Groenewegen, would like to hear from the Minister, whether it’s the Minister of Finance or the Minister of Health, what equipment can possibly be migrated from the current clinics over to the new clinic. Are we are going to be buying everything new? What are we going to do with the old equipment? Is it possible we could sell some of the old equipment?

It was just four years ago that we spent close to half a million dollars on Great Slave Medical House. I know it was federal dollars, but that doesn’t make it okay to spend money that is not going to have much utility to us if we are shortly signing a lease and moving to a consolidated clinic downtown.

Now, I am supportive of the consolidated clinic. I think it’s a move in the right direction, but the right steps have to be followed in order for that to happen. I don’t know. Again, I have some concern over the fact that the lease was signed prior to the Minister coming before the House to get approval for the capital expense on that. I am not sure why the Minister wouldn’t tell us where it is. I am not sure why that’s a big secret, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I will once again defer to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would undertake to make that…. I mean, this is a situation where we don’t want to be making announcements without having gone through the debate here. So it is sort of a catch-22 situation.

I just want to say on the equipment that the most expensive part is the new services the new primary clinic will deliver, such as scan machines and X-ray machines and lab tech machines that are not available in the existing clinic.

The second thing, for those who know about these three existing clinics — with the possible exception of Great Slave — Gibson Clinic and Family clinic are very, very old. All of the furniture in there is quite old. I mean, I don’t think we are talking about chairs and tables that are the expensive items; it’s the new health equipment we will have in the new primary clinic, because it will deliver new services that are not being delivered by current clinics.

I assure the Member that we will be vigilant in making sure that anything the clinics take with them will not be replaced with new money. I know that the most expensive part of the equipment is the new imaging machines and lab tech machines that will be purchased for that clinic.

I thank the Minister for that. There is probably a tremendous amount of equipment if you look at the three clinics that are currently in operation. If the new clinic can’t use it, I have been to a number of health centres in small communities that are in desperate need of any equipment. We should put that equipment to the best use possible. It shouldn’t just end up being thrown out or end up at a government surplus facility. If it can be used in the small communities and it has some usefulness, it should be sent there as soon as it can be.

Again, if we signed the lease three months ago, I am having trouble understanding why it is that we can’t talk about where that lease was signed and what the new location of the consolidated primary care clinic is in Yellowknife. It is beyond me why we can’t discuss that here. I’ve heard rumours about where it is, but I want the Minister to confirm where this consolidated care clinic is going to be. I mean, the lease was signed three months ago. What’s the big secret?

Mr. Chairman, the RFP went out in July, and I believe the lease was negotiated at the end of last month, so it hasn’t been signed for three months. The location is in between Wycliffe Centre and the mall, that area.

Nexton the list I have Mr. Bromley and Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also wanted to speak up very clearly in favour of moving forward on this consolidated primary care clinic. I compliment the departments for moving forward and getting this lease established. I hope we can move very quickly on the capital items, assuming it is approved shortly here, and get operational.

One of the reasons I’m pleased this is moving forward and hope it moves forward quickly and efficiently is that we have a hope that this will resolve some of the situations we are facing at the Stanton hospital, where the emergency room deals with much that could be dealt with at a clinic like this. Further to that, my understanding is that this clinic would operate long hours, perhaps around the clock.

One of the big issues that has been raised at Stanton emergency is the security issue. We have all heard horror stories about what is happening out there and what can happen, what the potential is. We are hoping that people will quickly adopt this facility in downtown Yellowknife, but I want to know that some thought has been given to designing the

facility to be secure if it is going to operate during nighttime hours in downtown Yellowknife. That’s the reality of today’s world. I am wondering if the Minister could share evidence that this is so, that this facility is being designed to be secure and attractive to emergency patients.

This consolidated clinic will be designed to meet all the appropriate standards in terms of patient care, patient safety, staff safety, safety of the equipment and the records. The traffic flow will be laid out in such a way that it is going to maximize the effective use of the space. At the same time, this addresses some of the issues the Member for Weledeh has raised.

Thank you, Minister, for those remarks. Often at the hospital, in the emergency rooms there, because the way locks are on the doors and so on, it can lead to very dangerous situations for the medical staff. I am assuming all that is being addressed in the design of this space. Is that correct?

To the best of my knowledge, yes, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask a question relative to the Stanton hospital master plan. The capital budget for 2008–2009 indicated funding for the Stanton master plan, and I don’t see it in the 2009–2010 Capital Estimates. I wonder if I can get an explanation as to why.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The master development plan hadn’t progressed to the point where we were able to tie up the amount of money that was initially identified in the budget, so it was temporarily removed from the capital plan. When the development plan is fully ready to roll, then we will be looking at reintroducing it back into the plan.

Thank you for that answer. I would like to ask the Minister if there is an estimate of time as to when this particular project will come back into the Capital Estimates.

I would ask your indulgence, Mr. Chairman, and defer to the Minister of Health and Social Services.