Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We currently have a funding program to assist commercial fishermen in the Northwest Territories at $225,000 a year. Thank you.

My next question is concerning the government facilities. Does the Minister have information on how much fish is bought in the Northwest Territories through our government facilities such as correctional facilities and schools and stuff like that?

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have that level of detail with me today, but I believe that was an issue that came up during the last sitting. I believe it was Mr. Bromley that brought that up as a performance indicator, how much local fish and meat products we are using in the Northwest Territories. If the Member likes, I can provide him with that information. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I would like that information. I would like to know what the department is doing to encourage purchasing through the different departments and facilities.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Fishermen’s Federation is still involved with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. They voted back in December of 2010 to remain a part of that organization. That organization is in fact going through a bit of turmoil. Just recently both Saskatchewan and northern Ontario have pulled out of FFMC and 90 percent of the total fish being run through FFMC now comes from Manitoba. There have also been some issues with the governance of the FFMC. So that’s where currently the NWT Fishermen’s Federation is marketing their fish.

As to the future here in the Northwest Territories, we do want to work with the NWT Fishermen’s Federation. We want to ensure a viable commercial fishery here in the Northwest Territories and we will continue to support commercial fishing in the NWT. Should the NWT Fishermen’s Federation decide at some point not to continue with FFMC, then we will have to reconsider our support and see where else we can help the fishermen in the NWT. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is concerning one of the issues that face the commercial fishermen right now and that’s

the high cost of fuel. One of the things that they pay is they pay the full taxes on the road tax. I know the department has looked in the past at this and they recently reviewed this policy. Is there somehow they can support the commercial fishing industry, because the gas is not used on a road system?

Thank you. The $225,000 that I spoke of earlier, that is money that goes to commercial fishers here in the NWT to help offset the high cost of fuel to help get them out on the lake harvesting fish. That’s something that we will continue to support. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Why is there still no nurse in Tsiigehtchic? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Health, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently the system that we’re employing and working with is the health and social services integrated service delivery model, which uses a combination of nurses, physicians and other community primary care workers to cover the nursing needs in all communities that have under 250 people. Thank you.

Thank you. What are Health and Social Services and the regional health authority doing to remedy this situation?

The first thing we’re doing is we’re reviewing the integrated service delivery model and working with the health and social services authorities across the territory so that they have an opportunity to re-evaluate the nursing needs in each community, including communities that have under 250 people, for a possible placement of nurses in those communities. Thank you.

As I mentioned earlier, the community has set aside housing for a nurse. Will the Minister work with the community leaders to find a way to put a nurse in that house? Thank you.

Yes, the department and the health and social services authority is willing to work with the community to try to get a nurse into Tsiigehtchic on a full-time basis. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have so many questions today I don’t know which ones to ask, but let me follow up on my colleague Mr. Moses’ questions.

Now, I’m not familiar with his constituent and I’m not familiar with the contract, but I just want to tell you what I heard through objective ears here in this exchange on the floor of the House. I heard that the health authority assessed an RFP and the local contractor was the appropriate contractor or proposal to win the contract. It got put through the BIP process and they, as a northern BIP company, then, after you’ve applied the BIP process, lost the contract to a southern contractor. Is that what I’m hearing? Because if that’s the case, BIP backfired on us this time.

I’ve listened to the exchange and I’m extremely curious about it, because RFPs are purposefully set up to allocate a score for experience, management, and you’d think if the person had the contract already that they would score very high in that area. So I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services is that where this contract was lost with the application of the BIP on a northern company. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The original evaluation of BIP and how an individual from the authority advised a northern contractor that looked like they had the best bid was based on the fact that the evaluation was done without evaluating the northern content of the southern bidder, the original. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, so I understand that. So they didn’t look at the northern content piece of the southern bidder’s proposal, but then the northern proponent appealed the evaluation and there is an opportunity, there is a vehicle to do that. Why was the contract awarded while the appeal process was still in play? Thank you.

The contract was awarded after the appeal process was denied by quality assurance, Public Works and Services. Thank you.