Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the Minister is being flexible about the small and remote communities where an idea such as transitional housing can work. That idea did come from the chief of the Jean Marie River First Nation.

At this time I’d like to invite the Minister to accompany us during our Nahendeh tour to the community of Jean Marie, and we can discuss this idea, and see if we can make it work, and if we can pick that community as a pilot project, so to speak. Thank you.

Thank you. One of the problems we face in some of the smaller communities is there are not as many transitional opportunities as there are in some of the larger centres, and I think we have to have a look at that. Again, I say if we have units in the communities that are vacant, public housing units, and we’re asking somebody to wait a year, we’d have to review that, and I think we’d have to review some of these on a case-by-case basis to see where we can best assist. There may be some other reasons why folks are not in these houses or in public housing. But I will commit to the Member – and I heard the same thing from the chief yesterday about his concerns with his community – that I would like to pay a visit to Jean Marie as part of our Nahendeh tour. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my speech, Hay River and the Hay River area are seeing an extreme storm right now. My question today will be for the Minister of Transportation.

Can the Minister give me an update on the Hay River area and how they’re keeping up with the storms to date?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last report that I’ve got from the South Slave and Hay River was that the airport was open today, flights were operating out of the Hay River Airport today, and that’s a real testament to the staff – Kelly O’Connor, the airport manager, and the staff at the Hay River Airport – that have worked long, hard hours dealing with the snow.

On the highway front, we’ve had every piece of equipment in the area. We’ve called in the Buffalo River camp to assist as well. We’ve had off-hour crews called in. So we’ve had every piece of equipment out on the roads, working the best that we can to keep the roads safe and clear of the snow that Hay River has experienced; Enterprise, as well, and other areas in the South Slave. So we’ve done a lot of hard work, and I think the crews in the area are to be commended for the hard work and the effort they’ve put into clearing the roads and keeping the airport open in Hay River as well. Thank you.

Thank you. I, too, appreciate the hard work by the department and all the organizations that are trying to clean up the area.

My next question is: Does the department expect bringing in any additional equipment from other regions to aid the Hay River and Enterprise area? Thank you.

We’ve brought in an extra I believe it was a plough truck from the Buffalo River camp. So far today it looks like the snow has abated. But as needed, I believe if we are hit with another episode of snow and heavy snowfall in the area, we do have equipment in other places in the South Slave and, if need be, that would be called into action. Thank you.

Thank you. My final question to the Minister will be about the department’s added hours. Does the department continue to have additional hours on a regular basis in the wintertime as opposed to the demands where they would be less in the summertime? Does the department have longer hours for operation for the highway equipment operations in the wintertime? Thank you.

I thank the Member for the question. Yes, we do and we’ve advanced with the winter schedule for the Enterprise camp already. The other camps I’d have to check on, but I do know that we’ve gone to a winter schedule for maintenance with the Enterprise camp. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke of the story of Allisdair Leishman, as presented in the media, and his apparent lack of physiotherapy care. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services verify that long-term care patients in general received, indeed, two hours a week and not two hours a month for such care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t have long-term care patients in the hospital, but my understanding is that we might be talking about patients in extended care.

Right now I understand that basically what happens is that it’s based on clinical need. So the clinical need for an individual in long-term care is they get two hours’ worth of physio per week, and then they’ll get two hours’ worth of physio per week. If there’s a requirement, only two hours per month, then that’s what they get. It’s based on a clinical need of the patient. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the Minister clarifying. I think the concern of many is that the existing level of rehabilitation services offered at Stanton is the issue. I’ve had many professionals from there indicate that being limited to two hours of services for in-patients is, as they say, make what you can make of it.

The system is failing here. It appears that outpatients – WSCC, DND, RCMP and auto insurance clients – are given urgent status over in-patients. The solution is very simple: prioritize your high-level, extended health or long-term care in-patients versus your non-urgent outpatients. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services commit to this simple fix to help prioritize in-patient care over outpatient care at Stanton Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you. The outpatients are not given priority over in-patients. Again, all patients are prioritized. There are more outpatients, there’s no question about that. People in the hospital, mostly the extended care people, are receiving physiotherapy from one physiotherapist and we have seven physiotherapists that are doing the outpatients. So based on clinical need and also given priorities given to patients who are unable to go back to work because of issues where they would need some physiotherapy in order to get back into the workforce, but they’re not given priority over in-patients.

Thank you. Consistency of delivering health care across the North is

paramount. Establishing the proper protocols for priority care is extremely vital.

Would the Minister of Health and Social Services commit to a complete NWT overhaul of the health care delivery in long-term care, extended care programs, which would establish the proper rehabilitation, prioritization tools and using evidence-based testing means? Thank you.

Thank you. I would commit to a complete overhaul of the system, but we are looking at all of the areas, including this area. Like I indicated in the House many times, we’re looking at what it takes to keep patients in their home as long as possible before they go into long-term care. When they’re in long-term care, then we provide some physio. When they’re in extended care, we provide some physio and so on. So there are some things being done.

There are some gaps, there’s no question about it, and so we’re looking at the whole system to make sure that we can fill the gaps. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My emphasis here is on consistency. We have here at the Hay River hospital, they use evidence-based testing for their prioritization schedule. Stanton Hospital does not. My ask is quite simple. Can we provide or will the Minister commit to look at an overhaul so that we have consistency from hospital to hospital, from long-term care to long-term care as we proceed with the 17th Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my statement, my questions are today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. As I said in my statement today, I’m amazed at how few of the concerns, so clearly expressed at the hearings, have been reflected in the proponent’s closing letter to the environment board. The commentary persists in the delusion that this is a remediation rather than a stabilization. Its silence on major concerns almost amounts to contempt towards the input of organizations and individuals. This government signed the letter, so I ask, given the passion and details of concerns presented, how can the Minister defend the statement that the

remediation plan is not the source of concerns regarding the Giant Mine cleanup?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.