I was brought in early on in the infancy stages of the Midwifery Program and was part of the consulting team to put together the legislation for midwifery. I have a very long cardinal relationship with them in terms of understanding their needs and their scope of practice, their ethics and standards that they govern themselves by. They are quite a dynamic group of individuals, and over the years I have been very appreciative, having witnessed going through the process. These people are very, very value-added to our health care system.

It has been talked about in here that we want to look at developing territorial standards in relation to what we already have, and community standards. I think many of us have a hard time grasping that whole concept. We’ve got some very strong community-based programming right now that has done very, very well for us. I think Members here, as general public, really want to see the continuance of the community-based programs. Not to undermine the territorial aspects that the Minister is referring to, just that we do have a good program in place that we need to move quicker along the pathway that was clearly laid out in the March 2012 midwifery report.

The Minister also references the fact that there has been very little consultation. I, again, want to quote this on the fact that the March 2012 report was a compilation of many hours, many stakeholders to which the review and findings were tabled. That was with the collaboration of doctors, communities and stakeholders. To say that there was no consultation, that we’ve got a creative consultation process for a territorial model at this stage, really doesn’t bode well, especially with the fact that this has already been in place for a number of years.

I know the Minister has indicated he doesn’t want to rush into this. We do admire the stewardship of the Minister; however, there is a difference between not rushing into it and taking a snail’s pace to implement it. I believe the Members here are very adamant in our resolve to push this agenda not according to the department staff wants and wishes but to the wishes and needs of the community and the Northwest Territories. We’re hoping the department will understand and heed the wishes of

committee and also heed the wishes of the Northwest Territories.

I could go at great lengths to support the re-profiling of this money but we’ve heard many of these arguments this evening already, so I will refrain from continuing with the same. With that, I am hoping we will get support for this motion.