Thank you, Mr.

Menicoche. The

honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for raising this question in regard to his constituency and the Liard Highway.

The department did review the locations on the Liard Highway and identified the areas that do need reconstruction, some major reconstruction, in terms

of upgrading the road we have. We have kept the road open to light traffic. We’re hoping that in the next couple of weeks we would lift the ban on heavy use by vehicles.

The department has outlined a two-phase approach to reconstruction and fixing up the Liard Highway. We hope to do the first and second phases within one month’s time. I would be happy to share the detailed information with the Member so he can communicate this to the good people in Nahendeh.

Mr. Speaker, that was my next question, to try and ascertain the timing of when they’re actually going to do the repairs. I’m glad to see it’s going to be done in about a month. Will the Minister advise the affected communities — Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Fort Simpson — of the timeline and of the work plan as well?

Mr. Speaker,

the

Member has raised a good point here. He has brought it up before, and we certainly listen to his concerns. We have stepped up in terms of our communications in terms of notifying the communities that are going to be affected in that.

We’re hoping that Mother Nature is on our side in terms of re-fixing up the Liard Highway. We would again reassure the Member and the communities of Nahendeh that our department is notifying the appropriate people in the communities in terms of any type of changes to the road reconstruction.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise me and the public as to why it’s taken so long to begin these repairs on these sections of Highway no. 7?

Mr. Speaker, one of the factors that remained out of our control was the weather in terms of the rain we had in the fall time and the early spring rain we had. The thawing out of the roads is because of the way these roads were constructed. When we took them over, we started to notice that some of the roads weren’t properly laid down in terms of building these roads, so we have to look at some of those sections here. It’s also because of, as I say, the weather we are dealing with. We are doing our best with the contractors and the staff to fix this road once and for all so that we can start doing further justice to the Deh Cho Trail, as it’s known.

Absolutely, and I think it’s critical to residents of Nahendeh that the road will be reconstructed and not just repaired. If I can get that from the Minister one more time.

Mr. Speaker, with all of our infrastructures, one of our priorities is to protect our existing infrastructures as we look at other

areas in terms of balancing our investments across the Northwest Territories. I want to let the Member know and let the people in Nahendeh know that since 2004 this government has spent over $16 million in reconstruction of Highway no. 7, so we are looking at road reconstruction. It’s right across the board. That’s one of our efforts for the safety of the travelling public on the Deh Cho Trail or any other road in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. The

honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about the use of locum nurses and the stress it puts on our territorial system. My question to the Minister of the Department of Health and Social Services is: what work has been done on doing a cost-benefit analysis, weighing out the cost of locum nurses and the stress on the system due to overtime and other expenses related to that?

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is an ongoing effort and process to hire as many nurses as possible so that we reduce the vacancies, reduce the use of locum nurses wherever possible. All the health authorities have made some progress in that area. Since January we have hired 58 nurses within all of our health authorities. Currently we have about 42 positions out of 60 filled in the communities. We do have stats that show the use of agency nurses has declined considerably.

We do understand the nursing profession is in constant stress. It’s a national and international market. Our latest stats show that the average overtime — down at the Stanton Hospital, for example — is about two hours less than the national standard. We understand we need to continue to work on that, and we believe we are making some progress.

Mr. Speaker, I should thank the Health Minister for that answer, because someday I will ask that question. I’m sure that’s an important question to ask. But my question wasn’t answered. Actually, it wasn’t even close to being answered. Has any work been done on a cost-benefit analysis to compare things such as locum nurses, the cost that is incurred on our system versus a cost to the system such as overtime and other costs related to that? Has that benefit analysis been done?

Absolutely. A hundred per cent. It’s being done every day.

The Minister sounds like she knows the details of that, so I’d like to know what the details are of that when we compare the two.

Mr.

Speaker, there is no

question: locum nurses cost more than regularly staffed nurses. Everybody knows that.

Thank you, Ms.

Lee. Final

supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I see the Minister chooses to answer my oral questions the same way she answers my written questions: avoidance and whatnot.

What is this Minister doing to change that fact? I have heard that Stanton as well as other places could reduce the amount of overtime, stress on local nurses and the stress on the system at large if that was changed around. What is the Minister doing to hire more nurses to make sure we get these locum nurses out of our system?

Mr. Speaker, I have indicated to the Member that since January 1, 2008, 58 indeterminate or term health care professionals have been hired in eight authorities. We have hired 24 nurses at Stanton, two in Tlicho, eight in Deh Cho, 14 in Beaufort-Delta, four at Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, three in Fort Smith and three in Sahtu. I’m telling the Member I agree with him that we need to continue to hire more nurses, and we are doing that.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Mackenzie-Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. The

honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for his question. The previous government had made a change in terms of the ferry services. It was on a scheduled service. When I did check into

it, it was changed over to the demand services. It is my understanding from the department that changing over to the demand side has benefited the operations, benefited the travelling public. It seems this is a way to have the service run in the Mackenzie River at the Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson, Inuvik locations.

Mr. Speaker, people in the Mackenzie Delta knew when they were able to catch the ferry on the Inuvik side. They knew on the hour, and you were able to be there. You were on the half-hour in Fort McPherson. You knew the ferry was going to be there. Now that they’ve changed the system, it is confusing to everybody. On the other hand, it’s going to cost this government in excess of 40 per cent more to operate on basically an as-and-when and not through a scheduled system. If we’re talking about saving money, it’s the perfect opportunity for this government to show we’re setting an example.

I’d like to ask the Minister: are you aware of the 40 per cent savings on the scheduled service by way of the operational costs over that of a ferry on an as-and-when-needed basis?