Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Ms. Meade.

Thank you, Deputy Minister Meade. I believe one of the earlier names we covered that under was the Community Call Coverage System. Thank you for that clarification. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks for that clarification as well. I did wonder in terms of the medical travel review and I certainly support an evaluation of sort of the clinical decisions and how we do that, but it’s my understanding that the Program Review Office is also undertaking to look at medical travel and efficiencies there. I wondered if these two reviews are being done in conjunction. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Deputy Minister Meade.

Thank you, Ms. Meade. Committee, once again, we’re on page 8-13, Health and Social Services, activity summary, directorate, operations expenditure summary, $7.678 million. Agreed.

Thank you. Page 8-14, Health and Social Services, activity summary, directorate, contributions, $35,000. Agreed?

Page 8-15, Health and Social Services, information item, directorate, active positions. Agreed?

Page 8-17. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I see this is the division that has health human resources. Could the Minister please tell me how much of the $34.32 million is allocated to the health human resources division?

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Ms. Meade.

So that $4 million is, I guess, co-managed by HR and Health and Social Services and is responsible for programs such as CHN development, our med school bursaries, our nursing bursaries. Could the Minister tell me: have we eliminated any of our bursaries in this division over the last year? For instance, do we still provide physician bursaries? Do we still have a community health nurse development bursary? Are we still providing all of the nursing bursaries? Have any of the bursaries that we provide or have provided in that section been eliminated?

So just for clarity, I heard that none of the bursaries have been eliminated but they may not be utilized particularly due to budget reasons. If the deputy minister could confirm that.

The other thing that I’m curious about or, rather, I would like the department to provide, is: I’d like the department to provide a list or summary over the last or probably since the duration of the bursaries -- they haven’t been around that long -- showing how much we’ve paid out, how much return of service was owed to the GNWT in all categories: nurses, social workers, physicians. How much return of services owed, how much has been collected, how much has not been returned? I know that a significant number of people have graduated and gone to work and didn’t necessarily come back to the Northwest Territories. I’d like a bit of an assessment as to how much return we got.

Also for confirmation, could the Minister and/or deputy minister confirm that the Community Health Nurse Program will definitely have intake in the 2011-2012 year?

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Ms. Lee.

Thank you. We will undertake to provide the Member with all the answers to the questions he raised.

Another section, division, whatnot, responsibility under the program delivery support is information services division. There’s been a lot of talk about e-health and EMRs, DI/PACS and all the great programs that are out there, all the great technology that’s out there to help us provide health services in a more streamlined manner. I understand that bandwidth has been a significant issue in getting these fantastic technologies into our small communities. These things, in my opinion, could help us reduce potential medical travel if we have ability for physicians to use this technology to help treat in the communities. What is this department doing with respect to lobbying or encouraging Public Works and Services to help create bandwidth or expand bandwidth throughout the Territories, for communities in particular, as it relates to these types of technologies?

As the Member stated, this is a very important area and it will become more important as we move forward. NWT actually is at

the forefront of rolling out programs and using the information technology. We are sort of a model student under Canada Infoway funding and being able to tap into those.

As the Member stated, bandwidth is a problem, it is a challenge in the NWT, as it is for the rest of the country. We do appreciate the support of the standing committee and the enthusiasm they’ve shown. Our department works with other departments and DPW and Education as we plan as a government on how we cope with what will, you know, most certainly be more and more increased demand for bandwidth. My deputy minister and staff are part of the working group that works on that issue.

Thanks to the Minister for that. We obviously share the same desire to get these particular systems up and running, but as the Minister you have a unique seat at a table in this government where you can really put pressure on your colleagues, the Ministers, to put some greater attention to expanding bandwidth up the valley into our communities so that we can really utilize these technologies that exist. There are so many advantages here to help us reduce medical travel costs, to increase services to the communities, to overall, you know, I mean, if we’re talking Foundation for Change -- and there has been a lot of Foundation for Change -- I think this is something that should fit as a critical aspect to Foundation for Change for helping to improve services in the communities. So as the Minister sitting at that unique table with six of your ministerial colleagues, what are you doing, what can you do to create a greater awareness in your ministerial colleagues so that we can get some movement on this and get some extended or increased bandwidth? Which isn’t just good for Health and Social Services, it’s good for education, it’s good for anybody providing services in the community, but there’s definite benefit for health. What are you doing? What are you doing to make sure that bandwidth is a priority?