There is no plan to reinstate that position on a permanent basis. As I have indicated, Stanton Territorial Health Authority was experiencing an almost $9 million deficit last year. There was a lot of pressure in this Assembly to balance the budget but at the same time I think the Assembly, and myself as Minister and the officials, wanted to ask the authority to balance their budget but do it in a way that was not going to severely impact programs and services. Mitigation measures that the hospital took were upwards of about $4.5 million. This position was part of that. I understand that there are people who feel that this is not the best way to go forward, but it was a choice between reducing half-time nursing or...I mean, you just can’t make choices but it was something that the authority had to do. They have had to, where they can, come up with ways to reduce the deficit. I’ve accepted that mitigation measures package from Stanton as well as all the other authorities. There are no plans right now to reinstate that position. Thank you.
Sandy Lee on Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 11th, 2009. See this statement in context.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
February 10th, 2009
See context to find out what was said next.