Next on the list I have Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would request the committee's indulgence to go back to page 6-4. My apologies; I had to step out when we were on that page.

Does committee agree we go back to page 6-4?

Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand my colleague Mr. Abernethy had a number of questions in the area of the Stanton Master Development Plan and the status of Stanton Territorial Hospital and I wanted to ask some questions again about that master plan. I guess I haven't gotten a level of satisfaction on why that plan appeared in subsequent capital plans to the tune of 60-some million dollars at times and last year disappeared from the capital plan. Again, it's nowhere to be found in this capital plan and I fail to understand how a department and the hospital could receive a technical assessment report that was done in 2004 that called into question a number of the building systems, code requirements and things of that nature, and we need some substantial capital dollars to be spent at that hospital.

Here we are and the government hasn't got that hospital on its capital plan. The Minister talks about it being back in the planning process and developing a plan, but, from where I sit, the department's had seven years and counting to come forward with a workable plan. To say that whoever was planning it came forward with this grandiose $250 million plan, well that's the government's responsibility to take those people who were planning that and go back to the drawing board. I don't think it takes seven years to do that. If you go back to 2004 it's been five years.

I'd like to know who is planning this Stanton Master Development Plan and exactly where it's at and whether or not we can expect to see the Stanton Master Development Plan come back in some form or another before the life of this government is over in two years. I just haven't gotten any reassurance from the Minister that that's going to happen. She wants us to work with her. I'm wondering what do we have to do to make that happen, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Ms. Meade

We had, at the committee level, I'm not a member of the Social Programs committee, but we had an opportunity to have the Minister before the Social Programs committee I believe it was close to a year ago and the issue was raised about the capital plan and why the Stanton Master Development Plan wasn't there. The Minister at the time stated that she would do her best to get it into the capital plan and it's not there. I understand what the deputy minister is saying, but I want to know -- let's say it doesn't come forward in two years -- ultimately who is going to be held responsible for that plan not materializing, because, like I said, it's been seven years.

I mean, things change. It's a moving target in health care, things change every day. So if we keep waiting, there's going to be new technologies coming forward, there's going to be new innovative ways of doing things, there's going to be new service delivery models eventually. I mean, we'll never have something nailed down if we keep saying, well, things are moving, things are changing. Of course they're changing, but what we need to do is get a major infusion of capital dollars into that hospital?

I want to know today who we can hold responsible if it doesn't happen. Is it the Minister? Who is actually working on this plan? I'd like to be clear on that. Who is working on the plan today? I said this in the House the other day: if the department and the authority cannot get the work done that's required, let's bring somebody else in to help them get the work done, whether that's Public Works and Services or somebody else. If they need the horsepower, let's bring that in and let's get this done and I'd like to see it happen by the end of the life of this government, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In an earlier response to the Member from Great Slave, I committed, based on the question, that within the life of this Assembly, Stanton would be ready to be moved back into the capital planning process. Thank you.

So I guess the Minister of Finance is going to take it on himself that this will be back in the capital plan. .Again, I'd like to hear from the Minister or the deputy minister who exactly is responsible. Is it the authority, the department and how that works and who is actually developing the plan and is it going to be back in the capital plan again next year, Mr. Chairman? Thank you.

Ms. Meade.

I guess all I can say is I look forward to that happening. It hasn't happened to date. So again, I'm going to hold my tongue. I just want to see it happen and I've told the Minister this. We need to work together and we need to get this back in the capital plan. I can't make that any more clear.

A couple of other things, too, I want to talk about and maybe this is part of the Master Development Plan, but the space utilization at that hospital and having administrative staff located predominantly on the third floor, we had talked previously about moving some of those administrative staff out of the hospital. It is a hospital, not an office building. We've actually gone to converting some patient lounges into offices and I think that kind of thing has to stop and we need to have the hospital be a hospital, not an office building. Again, I don't know the comment for the Minister. What are the plans long term for the administrative staff located in that hospital? Thank you.

We're on page 6-4, health services program. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. By the sounds of it, the deputy minister talks of a plan and I know there's been a tremendous amount of work done already, there's got to be the foundation of this Master Development Plan somewhere. I mean, we've spent money on it in years past, so there's got to be something there.

A couple of other questions, the Master Development Plan, will it include a discussion around the medical clinic, the Stanton Medical Clinic that's currently located outside of the hospital next to McDonalds? Is that part of the discussion as well, the clinical services that are provided? I know we're going to this walk-in clinic downtown in the consolidated clinic, but these are services that are provided outside of that venue, obviously, and I'm wondering what the future of that is going to be. Because I've talked to staff there, they're working in cramped quarters, they're overcrowded, they need more space to run the programs that they have there and we need more space there. I'm just wondering if I could get a comment from the Minister or the deputy minister on that. Thank you.

I am just wondering if the deputy minister could elaborate a little bit on the master plan for service delivery. It is the first I have heard of that. I know there is a Master Development Plan for Stanton, but I haven't heard of this master plan for service delivery and what that might encompass. I would like to hear a little bit more about that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you Ms. Meade. If we can move forward on this one. Page 6-4, Health and Social Services, activity summary, health services programs, infrastructure and investment summary, $4.174 million.

Moving forward to community health programs, Health and Social Services, activity summary, health services programs, infrastructure and investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $800,000.