Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I would.

Mr. Chairman, we must work together with our residents, communities, governments and agencies to meet the health and social services challenges that we face, to help ensure a sustainable health care system for the future.

Today I am presenting the Department of Health and Social Services’ main estimates for fiscal year 2011-2012.

Across Canada and internationally, leaders are being faced with difficult choices around the sustainability and accessibility of health care. It is no different for us in the Northwest Territories. We know that we need to make changes to our health and social services system so our children can access the same quality care that exists in the NWT today.

Current demands include rising cost of health care providers, pharmaceuticals, chronic disease and treating our aging population. The department is requesting $345 million for 2011-12. This is a 6 percent increase from the current year. Twenty million dollars of this request is forced growth which is needed to try to keep up with demands to the system. This includes incremental salary and benefit increases to staff, higher medical travel expenditures, and increased costs for out-of-territory physicians.

One of our initiatives to reform the system is our strategic document, a Foundation for Change. Sustainability, wellness and accessibility to health and social services are three pillars of the Foundation for Change.

Mr. Chairman, we launched the Foundation for Change with the support of the Members of this House through the Standing Committee on Social Programs. I have committed to regular updates to show progress to Members. Since the plan was launched, we have made progress in a number of areas. Some highlights include expansion of the Health Promotion Fund, which has allowed communities of all sizes and from all regions to support Northerners in making healthy choices. We have increased supports and services for people who experience family violence and continue to implement the Small Communities Homelessness Fund.

We have been able to make great progress improving residents’ access to care, through continued implementation of the HealthNet electronic health system, which is bringing Northerners closer to quality care through technology. As well, residents have more equitable, needs-based access to long-term care through the Territorial Access Committee.

One of the key first-year activities of the plan was to engage with stakeholders regarding wellness priorities through the regional health and social services dialogues which were completed with the final session in Inuvik in mid-January. We also are working with health and social services authorities more effectively and as a system, and have implemented contribution agreements that clarify the roles and responsibilities around system funding.

The 2011-2012 proposed budget for Health and Social Services also includes $1.8 million in new funding for strategic initiatives. These include:

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$650,000 to enhance continuing care services within the authorities by increasing the number of trained home support workers. This will allow the authorities to increase the hours available to clients, which has become increasingly critical as the NWT health and social services system responds to the new 48-hour rapid discharge of patients from Alberta.

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$500,000 in further investment in the Healthy Choices Framework to fill in the gaps in early childhood initiatives at the community level aimed at promoting healthy living, including expanding the Healthy Family Program to Inuvik and Fort Simpson to allow for better supports to families before they are in need of a social worker.

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$75,000 to expand respite services, which will enhance caregiver support and training to families of children and youth with special needs in areas outside of Yellowknife. This enhancement will meet the developmental needs of children with disabilities and reduce reliance on southern placements.

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We will be investing $375,000 in our health benefits administrative systems to better deliver and achieve efficiencies in the delivery of extended health benefits. In addition, we are investing $10,000 in our HPV vaccination program as well as $23,000 to enhance our response to family violence.

I would also like to report on the extension of the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative, THSSI, until March 2012. This federal funding was used for a number of initiatives, including nursing midwifery and support for the Foundation for Change, as well as medical travel. This limited extension is an opportunity to consolidate progress

made within the first five years. However, we are faced with difficult decisions as federal funding is time limited.

Ensuring sustainability and addressing the challenges in our health and social services system will not be easy and requires the full support of this Assembly and our stakeholders. I look forward to working with Members and completing the vision of the 16

th

Assembly.

This concludes my opening remarks and I would be happy to answer questions.