Good morning, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

The construction of an all-weather highway down the Mackenzie Valley to the Arctic coast is vital to connect our communities, and to access a wealth of natural resources that are critical for growing the NWT economy and ensuring Canada remains prosperous within the global economy.

Mr. Speaker, the northern most segment of the Mackenzie Valley all-weather highway, the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway, is our first priority for construction. This highway has received much attention recently as the Government of the Northwest Territories approaches some key decision points concerning the next steps for construction of this segment. At the same time, the Department of Transportation is reaching significant and notable milestones in planning the southern section of the highway from Wrigley to the Dempster Highway. The recent exploration activity in the Sahtu has drawn much attention to the southern portion of the Mackenzie Valley and we need to also continue our planning efforts to focus on the next construction priority: the road from Wrigley to Norman Wells.

I’m very pleased to announce the department initiated the second planning stage for the Mackenzie Valley Highway at the beginning of February.

Four project description reports for highway segments passing through land claim settlement areas have been combined into one scoping document and submitted to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board for initial review. The department requested the application be referred to an

environmental assessment. Last week the

Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board initiated the environmental review process for the proposed all-weather highway from Wrigley to the Dempster.

The project description reports for the southern segment of the highway were completed through partnerships with CanNor and Aboriginal land claim organizations. The partnerships delivered environmental and engineering information to support the regulatory review process for the all-weather highway project.

The Department of Transportation has engaged the federal government in discussions on funding for additional planning activities required to move the project through the EA process. In support of this work, CanNor recently contributed $600,000 for the next stage of environmental and engineering study activities.

A memorandum of understanding to create a partnership for Stage 2 Planning Activities was signed with the Gwich’in Development Corporation in January 2013 and a similar MOU is anticipated with the Tulita District Investment Corporation shortly.

While we work through the planning process for the all-weather highway, we have also been busy upgrading the Mackenzie Valley winter road. Through federal partnerships, such as the Building Canada Plan, the Department of Transportation has already invested over $100 million in incremental infrastructure improvements on the winter road.

The winter road’s grade and alignment have been improved significantly at key locations and the installation of permanent bridges has helped to stabilize the road’s operating season in the face of warming weather. Improvements in safety have been achieved by installing signs to indicate speed limits, distance and changing surface conditions.

Mr. Speaker, since 2005, the department has been collaborating with industry through annual contribution agreements to improve the level of service on the road to accommodate increased heavy traffic associated with resource development needs. This year the GNWT received $1.2 million in contributions from industry to advance the winter road construction effort.

This additional funding has allowed the department to accelerate the construction of ice crossings to deliver earlier access to the winter road, strengthen the road surface to better receive heavy equipment, and accommodate the demobilization of rigs and other gear at the latest possible date in the spring. Unfortunately, advance planning cannot account for the added measure of unpredictable and sometimes severe weather conditions experienced this year.

To improve safety, the department has increased the number of vehicle inspections and enforcement patrols, and is providing information packages to industrial drivers new to the winter road experience. Additional signage marking all the crossings will help new drivers understand and communicate their locations as they travel the route. We will continue to engage industry and work with them to improve winter road safety.

Mr. Speaker, while the capital investments required to complete the highway are substantial, the benefits that will accrue from this investment are significant and national in scope. The completion of the all-weather highway will improve access to our communities, help maximize the exploration investments from resource development companies, provide greater certainty for further exploration, and create significant employment opportunities for Northerners during construction and ongoing maintenance.

Mr. Speaker, strategic investment in our transportation infrastructure that will support economic development is an investment in a strong, prosperous Northwest Territories. The Department of Transportation is pleased to be moving the Mackenzie Valley Highway into the environmental assessment phase and closer to realizing the dream of an all-weather highway down the entire length of the Mackenzie Valley. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to speak about the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ upcoming Good Governance Conference. This year’s conference theme is Community Ownership. The conference will take place at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife from February 26thto 28thand 165 participants representing all 33 communities are expected to attend.

Mr. Speaker, our 33 community governments play a vital role in the sustainability and strength of our territory. MACA, through the School of Community Government, continues to support them as they build capacity to address their increased authority.

We promote and support effective governance and program delivery through initiatives such as the Advancing Local Government Administrators Program, the Community Government Mentorship Program, Occupational Certification and the Recreation Leaders Program. We also provide specific training on a wide range of community government-related topics. From April to December 2012, 450 community government staff from 29 communities participated in courses delivered through the School of Community Government.

Building community capacity requires partnerships with stakeholders, including the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, the Local Government Administrators of the NWT, our own Department of Human Resources and community governments themselves.

Strategic investments in capacity building have resulted in programs that meet community governments’ unique needs. The Public Service Capacity Initiative, through which MACA is hosting the upcoming conference, is one example of the type of collaborative program being delivered through the school.

This year’s conference theme of Community Ownership reflects the importance of asset management and community involvement in planning. Sessions will cover a variety of topics and feature some of the foremost experts in the field from the North and across Canada. We will talk about community capacity and how to keep our communities sustainable, vibrant and safe.

I invite all of my fellow Members to attend what is sure to be an informative conference. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a priority of this government that children get the best possible start in life so they can reach their full potential. It is important that we continue investment in early childhood development as this is an investment in the future of our children.

In January of this year, in partnership with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, we hosted a roundtable to identify priorities for a renewed Early Childhood Development Framework. I’m pleased to report that the roundtable was a success.

I know the Members of this House that attended the roundtable would agree that the experts provided us with great insights about integrating new research findings into current practices.

Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we are on the right track. The experts and the local presenters confirmed that we are funding the right programs. We must continue with existing programs like the Healthy Families Program, which we plan to expand to more communities. This program provides community-level support for families.

We continue our investment of over 3 percent of our budget in prevention programs. We know that by starting prevention programs at a young age will allow our families to grow strong and healthy. Our Mental Health and Addictions Plan, A Shared Path Towards Wellness, will complement our Early Childhood Development Framework.

We continue to support the great work NGOs are providing. NGOs like the NWT Literacy Council and NWT Disability Council and programs like the Aboriginal Head Start will contribute to successful early childhood development.

We all want our children to have the best possible start in life. We must work in partnership with all agencies to ensure that our children are healthy and can grow into responsible, healthy residents.

Minister Lafferty and I look forward to sharing our renewed framework with Members of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government will be getting out of public housing in 2038. That’s 25 years from now. I should be about 35 years old by then. The federal government will not continue to allocate funding for social housing in the Northwest Territories or in Canada.

We are experiencing cutbacks from social housing right now as we speak. Every year we’re receiving less and less. Soon the money will run dry, and then what? Are we ready for this? That’s a good question.

Today we own about 2,400 public housing units in the Northwest Territories. Each unit costs the NWT Housing Corporation about $16,000 per year. That includes electricity, heat, and water and sewer delivery. The sad part is that we have some houses sitting empty in our communities.

People keep reminding me of the promises that were made by the government of the day a long time ago, about how they were going to own their own homes once they were relocated off the land and put into public housing units at that time. Since we pay more for keeping our residents in those units, they are still not close to owning their own homes. They are residents who live in those units until they pass on. The government has to do away with that kind of thinking and work with people in training, creating jobs and assisting our residents with home ownership, and make it a priority of this government to provide support to our residents to become homeowners.

We value and take pride in our diverse cultures and our ability to adapt, and I believe we could adapt to new ways of looking at housing. We need to have discussions with our people, pay attention to them, and to adjust our strategic planning to see the future of our residents. We need a comprehensive territorial or national housing strategy.

We’re all in this together. There’s no telling what will happen if we work together with our residents and come up with solutions for our housing strategic plan. With the right amount of funding, it might just work. We need it to work. We need it to work now.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple of months ago our Minister of Finance took to the skies with his childhood bag of Legos and travelled the territory to talk to the people about the budget. I must admit the format was unique and provided some visual interaction, but months later, after the report has been tabled, one must look back and ask what we learned. What was used from this experience to influence the main estimates we’re currently reviewing? Did we listen? More importantly, did we hear the wishes of our people?

Interestingly, we are currently looking at the Department of Health and Social Services budget and I find myself dusting off this Budget Dialogue 2012 report to see what was captured and what was being transferred to good use today. Health was cited by most participants as the area where there were the most opportunities for savings. Suggestions range from cost reduction in administration of medical travel, using strategic staffing, using technology to reduce medical travel and investing in healthy lifestyles. These were all opportunities of efficiencies.

Medical travel, comments like “unnecessary trips to Edmonton” and “bad enough I had to travel to Yellowknife for medical reasons, even worse when I found out my appointment was cancelled” and “government needs to be vigilant about the abuse of the privilege” clearly shows opportunity for savings or potential abuse of the system. Some participants also indicated to have a better use of existing resources. Another quote, “We need to keep people in the North to get the treatment they need. That could be a cost-saving measure.” I agree. Reducing our need to fly people down south, in itself, is a very forward-thinking approach to reducing our medical travel costs. I applaud the residents who came up with that.

However, the many ideas generated for reducing the costs of medical travel, such as better scheduling practices to avoid these multiple trips and long stays, these checks and balances to reduce cancellation and missed appointments, and better coordination of our patients’ medical appointments, for the most part have fallen on deaf ears as we do not see any changes to these recommendations or any of this action today. This is very unfortunate.

I can speak to many more residents’ suggestions that are now part of the GNWT archaeological archives of other countless reports, but I’ll stop here. I will use this Budget Dialogue 2012 report to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services the appropriate questions later today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder how many people in our territory know that they have to renew their health care card. I just asked that because that is the new system that has been adopted by our Health department. It is now up to everyone to check the expiry date on their health care card and apply for a new one a few months in advance. The form is available on the Health and Social Services website, and at nursing stations and medical clinics.

I know there has been some advertising about this, and postcards to remind people to renew are being sent out, but old habits die hard. No doubt there will be people who do not get the message.

It used to be the health care cards were seldom replaced and when they were, the new one would simply arrive in the mail. Many of our residents probably still think that that’s how it works. Of course, what I do not want to see happen is any of our residents running into problems with their health care coverage – especially if they happen to travel outside the Northwest Territories – expiring. Sometimes we are asked to pay a bill and then we have to seek reimbursement after we get home.

I know that many people have applied for new cards but have not received them yet. There may be a backlog in Inuvik; I’m not sure. But, obviously, we need to provide health care to those people when it is required, so it’s important that there be a grace period. My understanding is that health care providers are supposed to confirm the patient’s enrolment number. It might be a good idea to have an automatic grace period of some length and then handle problems on a case-by-case basis.

I am glad that the Health department is keeping health care cards up to date. I’m sure that one good side effect will be that few people who have left the NWT will still have valid cards. I am always amazed by how many times I am approached by people in the public who want to convince me of an urban myth that there are more health care cards than there are people in the Northwest Territories. We have gone over this many, many times and I’ve assured people this is not the case, but it is still out there in the public that we have people who have left the Northwest Territories still carrying around NWT health care cards. This new system will, hopefully, help to alleviate that.

But change is always hard and I’m sure there will be little glitches before the population is used to renewing their health care cards, and I want to encourage the Health Minister to stay with the information campaign for a while and then reinforce it from time to time.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on this new health care card renewal process.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The arts are alive and well in the NWT. We are blessed with visual arts, music, film, dance, and written word artists, to name just a few. This government recognizes the contributions that arts performers make. We recognize the positive impact on the economy from the arts and that they are essential to the preservation of NWT culture. Funding for the arts is provided through the Education, Culture and Employment budget, and we present awards for culture through the Minister’s Cultural Circle. But there’s one aspect of our lives and our history which needs greater profile, Mr. Speaker, greater profile and recognition, and that would be heritage.

We often speak of heritage and culture in the same breath. They complement one another. Culture tends to refer to language, customs and the arts, whereas, heritage tends to refer to artifacts, structures and stories from the past. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment will be aware of a request to him and the department from nine NWT culture and heritage groups for assistance in preserving and profiling NWT heritage. This isn’t to say that the government doesn’t do anything for heritage right now, but we could do more. Other jurisdictions do. They recognize heritage in their ministries. For instance, Manitoba has a Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism. In the Yukon, the Department of Tourism and Culture specifically identifies a process for managing, conserving and interpreting heritage.

Around the NWT we have nine heritage and culture groups: NWT Mine Heritage Society, Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, Hay River Museum Society, Norman Wells Historical Society, NWT Metis Cultural Institute in Fort Resolution, Heritage Centre Society in Fort Simpson, Native Communications Society of the NWT and the Fox Moth Society in Yellowknife. These all play an important role in the social and the economic fabric of their communities.

The GNWT needs to expand our focus and our support for culture to specifically include heritage. The requests in the letters sent to the Minister from these organizations are not huge. They ask the government to consider the following:

● form a culture and heritage council similar to the NWT Arts Council;

● establish a ministerial portfolio for heritage and culture;

● allocate permanent funding for heritage and culture organizations and activities.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

They also ask for continuation of funding to hold their bi-annual meetings for culture and heritage. They also ask to provide support for ongoing training and networking opportunities. All of these asks are something that we as a government can do that won’t require much financial support. Maybe we don’t need another ministerial portfolio, but to consider an expansion of the Cultural Circle awards to include heritage I believe is certainly doable. I urge the Minister to seriously consider the requests from the NWT’s nine heritage and culture societies and to copy Members of this House on his response to their letter. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation is going to mothball the Merv Hardie ferry. With the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge, the ferry service is no longer required at Fort Providence. Although the department has no intentions of selling the ferry or disposing of it, there are no plans to use it, either.

We need that ferry at the crossing in Tsiigehtchic. The Merv Hardie is a bigger vessel than the Louis Cardinal that currently services the river crossing in the Delta. Its bigger size allows it to transport more goods in a single trip.

That ferry supplied the entire city of Yellowknife and the North Slave region for many years, hauling all the material for this city and the Tli Cho communities could ask for. They built this city with that ferry. Just think of what it could do for the communities of the Mackenzie Delta.

The Merv Hardie can also run longer than the Louis Cardinal. Two hours every day over the course of the summer can really add up. A longer operating season across the river at the Tsiigehtchic crossing will also result in lower costs and help reduce the cost of living, overall, for the people of the Mackenzie Delta, and also extend the supply for liquid natural gas for Inuvik in the fall season.

Before the Merv Hardie is put into permanent storage and begins to fall into disrepair because of it not being used, the Department of Transportation should seriously consider moving it up the river to serve the Mackenzie Delta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again today, advocates for the prompt provision of on-the-ground midwifery services are gathering outside this Assembly to press their case. Some may join us here in the gallery yet again, to watch our proceedings and repeat the appeal for early and full introduction of midwifery service. Through petition, letter, contacts with MLAs and with the Health Minister, the NWT Citizens for Midwifery have demonstrated their broad base of support espousing the wisdom of implementing territory-wide midwifery.

The proposed budget contains limited amounts for partial introduction of midwifery services. Some funds will be used to quote and gauge communities on expanding service further, and support planning activities for Hay River.

Enough study, enough planning, enough lost opportunity for savings and benefits, enough idling. We have a 162-page Midwifery Program review and expansion analysis report of March 2012. It’s comprehensive in all things but the assessment of the cost-savings to be reaped if we stop unnecessarily flying expectant mothers out of communities for residential living, away from home, and hospital delivery.

The social and health benefits have been repeatedly stated: improve social functioning, enhanced autonomy, bringing birth closer to home, increased continuity of care, decreased stress, improved early child development, improved access to culturally appropriate care that promotes the ancestral traditions of midwifery; and the increased opportunities for health promotion and disease prevention. Regional health centres are cost-effective and the foundational basis of our community health service. Midwifery service is an indispensable element of this approach.

We’ve delivered reports and studies of the quintuplets. The March 2012 report lays out the options, the detailed implementation requirements and costs. Now it’s time to bring this baby home.

I’ll be calling for inclusion of significant sums in this year’s budget for real progress in the expansion of this service for real people.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the first time ever, residents of Fort Providence can call, text and browse the Internet from a hand-held device in the community.

NorthwesTel launched its 4G network in Fort Providence on Wednesday, February 20th. Cell phone service is a goal of my constituents and I’ve had a petition that’s spoken loudly about it for a long time. The 4G network will allow residents and visitors to use the latest wireless devices, tablets and smartphones in our community. The introduction of this technology will enhance the quality of life for both residents and travellers. Anyone travelling through to the southern part of the Northwest Territories goes through Fort Providence.

We had a very sobering reminder of the need for emergency services on our highways this week. My sincere condolences go out to the friends and families of those involved in this accident. Expansion of telecommunications will enable continued steps to improve public safety, such as 911 telephone services and ground ambulance and highway rescue measures. Kakisa has also expressed the need for cell service.

NorthwesTel is not only providing 4G services, but representatives will also be in the community until Saturday to answer any questions about mobile devices and plans, and to demonstrate the latest gadgets, including the Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 and the brand new Blackberry Z10. Maybe they’ll show us how to get moose calls and geese ringtones on our phones.

People can also get information about NorthwesTel’s services through its website or by calling its 1-800 line. NorthwesTel serves the largest operating area of any telecommunications on this side of the planet. It is expected to contribute over $15 million to support the enhanced broadband Internet service for 31 communities in the NWT in introducing enhanced mobile Internet services in 25 communities. This is the beginning of a new era for the North. This work is made possible by Infrastructure Canada and Falcon Communications, a broadband business alliance made of the Akaitcho Regional Investment Corporation, Dehcho Economic Corporation, Denendeh Advancements and the Tetlit Gwich’in Council. We can be proud of this Aboriginal partnership and what they are able to accomplish.

I’d like to recognize the work of NorthwesTel and all its partners, and encourage all Northerners to make the best and most responsible use of this amazing technology. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we’re proceeding into the budget dialogue process, I’d like to refer back to the budget dialogue report that the Minister of Finance and his little tour that he went on through the Northwest Territories listening to our residents. Actually, I want to focus on three main areas that were discussed and addressed under the Health portfolio.

I won’t get into some of the detailed comments that my colleague went into earlier, but one was the investment in treatment programs and for mental illness, something that this side of the House has been fighting for ever since we started the 17thLegislative Assembly. It’s great to see that the Minister of Health and Social Services did commit to the detox beds and that he also committed to possibly bringing a supplementary appropriation here for an early intervention team to start up possibly this fiscal year. Also, one of our priorities is using existing infrastructure to put some of these programs in place. So it’s stuff those Members have been talking about since we started the 17thLegislative Assembly.

Another area of his focus that residents of the NWT have been speaking to is preventative health programs. The percentage of budget dollars that go to the Health budget is still very low, even though the Minister did make comments about it earlier in his opening remarks. It still doesn’t address the need of residents in the Northwest Territories and it’s something Members on this side of the House will continue to fight for.

You’ve heard colleagues mention this, but midwives was something that was also discussed and emphasized from the residents of the Northwest Territories for community-based maternal care and employment of midwives, not consulting about creating action.

On the news this morning, it was clearly stated, we’ve had enough consulting, it’s time for action. We have the reports. We have the documents. It’s time to put some of this stuff on the ground and start listening to our residents. If government isn’t going to act on it, then rest assured committee and Members on this side of the House will bring these concerns forward, get them addressed, get them in the budget process, and get the dollars for these programs and services to ensure that our residents are being listened to.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning the Minister of Health, Tom Beaulieu, started his statement, “It is a priority of this government that children get the best possible start in life so that they can reach their full potential.” I’d like to recognize some of those people that help that.

We all know that many youth throughout the winter travel throughout the North to compete in many different sports: hockey, soccer, swimming, basketball, figure skating, hand games, and many others, including skiing. I’d like to recognize all those parents, grandparents and coaches that have been on the road for most of the winter taking these youth to different tournaments and events. Without that, these events would not take place and these youth would not have more potential to become successful in life.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to be in the arenas watching a lot of senior men’s hockey, and I’m glad the Huskies are doing pretty good. In my opportunity to speak in the arenas, I’ve seen lots of people from different communities in Hay River as well as when I was in Yellowknife. There were lots of people travelling in. I’d ask them what they’re doing in Yellowknife: we’re here for basketball; we’re here for hockey.

I think, in the process of raising these children in the North, we need to thank those people that get involved in their development. I was speaking with one of my friends. Out of the last six weeks, he’s been home for only one week of those six. They’ve been on the road for five weeks. As I’ve indicated, I’d like to acknowledge those hardworking parents, and coaches, and grandparents who help these youth in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to recognize the passing of Mr. Stephen Rowan, a long-time resident of Fort Simpson.

Stephen Hamilton Rowan was born in England and was educated in the United States, serving as a volunteer ambulance driver during World War II. He arrived in the Canadian North in 1963, after training as a teacher. Mr. Rowan also worked in Iqaluit, northern Quebec, Sanikiluaq, and Gameti, where he became a citizen of Canada in 1980. He also worked in Trout Lake, Behchoko and, finally, Fort Simpson. He retired in Fort Simpson, from the position of superintendent of schools in 1987.

Stephen Rowan lived simply, without a microwave or satellite TV, and burned wood to heat his home, known as The Yellow House. He was a strong member of his community, who showed quiet leadership by example. As a retired educator, he provided library services and guest speakers at the John Tetso Memorial Library. He offered ski lessons and led Jackrabbit skiing for children over 15 years.

His real passion was the history and heritage of Fort Simpson. Mr. Rowan was a founding member of the Fort Simpson Historical Society. He advocated for the preservation of Fort Simpson’s heritage buildings, which are some of the oldest buildings in the Northwest Territories. Stephen Rowan developed an annotated inventory of these buildings, gave public lectures, and led walking tours for both local residents and visitors. He loved spending time with archaeologists and other researchers, and was always ready to help.

Stephen Rowan was a generous man, a wise elder, and beloved friend to all. He will be sorely missed.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fifteen years ago a study said that it was time to build a new courthouse in the NWT because the needs of the population had certainly increased. It would be cheaper, the study said, and more effective for the people who need the services, rather than continue to sink money into the existing building. The needs have not kept pace with modern times. Even Nunavut and Yukon have independent courthouses. When is it time that the Northwest Territories get its own independent courthouse?

If you don’t believe me, believe our Public Works. Two feasibility studies were led by our own Public Works, and they identified that our needs cannot be accommodated within the existing courthouse we have today.

Let’s go back a bit of time. Thirty-six years ago, that’s 1977, our courthouse was designed for three Territorial Court judges and one Supreme Court judge. What has changed? Security has changed, functionality has changed, victims' and accused’s' rights have changed and improved, working space has changed. We don’t have four judges like back in 1977. We’ve increased to eight judges in total, not even talking about the increase in the court circuit of appeal that has to show up every once in a while.

In 2003 this Legislature gave $3.6 million. In 2006-2007 we spent another $4.166 million on planning for the new courthouse. The functionality, size and requirements are inadequate for these modern times. Nunavut has a new courthouse. Yukon has a courthouse. When is it time that the Northwest Territories has its own independent courthouse?

I would like to ask who is speaking on behalf of the judges on this particular file. Who is fighting for the rights of those victims and accused who have to cross paths and share rooms with each other before a trial? That is not fair. Who is speaking for the bottom line when the 2003-2004 court case of Giant Mine was going on here in Yellowknife? They had to rent YK Centre space at $353,000, not even talking about the stress when the Franco-TeNOise challenged the NWT government and the Government of Canada about their rights.

The bottom line is that things have changed, except for the courthouse. Demands have increased, and it’s time that we addressed these needs with an independent study.

I will be asking the Premier about the program review office later today.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize a friend and constituent, Amanda Dei. Amanda passed away last week after battling ovarian cancer for well over a year. She was a loving mother, daughter and friend. Amanda will be greatly missed by her daughter, Madilynn; her sister, Kim Lambrecht; brothers Robert Langlands, Trevor Lambrecht and Joel Dei; nephew, Alex Lambrecht; and father, Norman Dei, who is with us in the gallery today.

In addition to her loving family, Amanda had a huge circle of friends, often referred to as the No-Pants Army in recognition of Amanda’s distaste for pants. Amanda was a passionate musician and one of the founding members of one of Yellowknife’s more popular bands, The Break-Up. She wrote songs that came from the heart and struck a chord with everyone who had an opportunity to see her and her band perform.

In addition to being a musician herself, Amanda was a champion of women in music. She was a regular participant in the T’seko Celebration of Women in Music and was also one of the event organizers.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Amanda took on a dual battle. She not only fought her own battle with cancer but took on the challenge to raise money toward supporting cancer research, in hopes of eliminating cancer altogether. In Amanda’s honour, the No-Pants Army will continue to support cancer research. I understand that the No-Pants Army is already registered for the 2013 relay.

Amanda was an amazing person who will be missed by everyone that she knew and everyone that loved her. She will not be forgotten. Her music, distaste for pants, and desire to support the fight for cancer and raise money for research will continue through her family and friends. There will be a celebration of life for Amanda this Saturday, February 23rd, starting at 2:00 p.m. at St. Joseph School.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to Mandy No-Pants for contributing a verse to our lives.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two people in the gallery. First I’d like to recognize Norman Dei, who is the father of Amanda. He is a long-time northern resident and long-time Yellowknife resident. He is a quantity surveyor for the Department of Public Works and Services. With him today is Sherry Otis. I’d also like to recognize Sherry Otis.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seeing as it’s Education Week, I’d like to welcome back to the Northwest Territories a long-term Yellowknifer and teacher here in the Northwest Territories, Ms. Myrna Strain. With Myrna are Ms. Tai Blake and Ms. Sam Pearce. Welcome to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my wife of 34 years and the most patient woman in the world. Judy, welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two Pages from the Deninoo School in Fort Resolution: Rayleen McKay and Tianna Simon.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to commend your Page Program for the small communities, because this week we had two young students from the Echo Dene School out of Fort Liard: Ms. Kali Norn and Michael Bertrand-Sassie. I would also like to recognize the hard work of their chaperone, Ms. Sylvia Bertrand. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly, and I hope you had a great week. Hopefully we’ll see you back here one day, maybe in this chair.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of Inuvik Boot Lake. Welcome, Ms. Judy McLeod, to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use this occasion to recognize Kain Bezha, who is a St. Pat student and a Yellowknife Centre constituent. I would like to let him know, as well as everyone else who is a Page here, that I am greatly appreciative of their services, as Mr. Menicoche was saying. He is quite right. Several of us MLAs got our start as Pages in this Assembly. You never know where you can go next.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I’d like to welcome all visitors here in the public gallery. Thank you for taking the time to attend our proceedings here today.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and in follow-up to my Member’s statement today. Question number one: How far behind are we on issuing new health care cards to residents who have applied for them? How many applications are in limbo at this time?

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. There are some issues with mailing, but I think that the majority of the people that went for renewal have had their health cards renewed without any issues.

There are some issues. To answer her question of how far behind we are in this is difficult for me. I can say that we did change the system just a bit by mailing out postcards as opposed to forms, and that has caused a little bit of an issue. Aside from wrong addresses, I think we’re fairly up to speed on our renewals.

Because this is a new system and the expiry coincides with people’s birthdates, I would like to ask the Minister if there is a grace period that’s being extended to someone. If they show up at any kind of a medical service provider and their health care card is expired, will they still be provided services without having to apply for them and then be reimbursed or anything like that? Is there a grace period?

Unfortunately, if you show up with expired health care, you will not get insured coverage. However, you do have four months after that grace period to renew your health care card.

If somebody’s birthday was on January 15thand the applications for renewal of health care cards had not gone out, and with the backlog and number of cards that were not processed right away, is the Minister saying that if you’re an NWT resident, and you have an NWT health care card, and you show up for service, that you are not going to be provided that service during this transition phase into a new system?

On this new system where we moved to birthdates, we have about 2,000 per month. The majority of them are processed, yes. A lot of the mailings went out after people’s birthdays, on the 21stof January actually, so we do have a bit of a glitch in the system. But, in reality, we didn’t see it as a huge issue, that most people will have their cards renewed. But if they don’t have their cards renewed then, yes, they will not get the service provided at that time. They can get a service and they can pay for it or else they can quickly get the card renewed.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s very discouraging to hear, because I don’t think the department was on their game on the implementation of this new health care card system. I’m particularly worried about students that maybe hold NWT health care cards but they’re down in Alberta or someplace else, that this Minister is now telling us in this House that they would not receive services. I could see in the Northwest Territories people probably know people and it would be a lot easier, but I’m particularly worried about people outside of the territory who have birthdates early on in the year. Probably by the time we get to November or December it will all be worked out, but there were glitches, there were problems, and I would like there to be some kind of a grace period where people could be provided the services and they will get their cards eventually. I’d like the Minister to explain to us why that would not be possible.

We began a media campaign in December to advise people that we’re moving to the system where their health care card expires on their birthday. These are health care cards that would have been in place for three years, and then expiring on their birthdays starting this year and then more in the coming years. What has happened is, because there have been issues where there are indications that individuals that are holding health care cards that are not eligible that are outside the province, we wanted to have a clean process when we transfer into the new system that we’re requiring that people have health care cards, eligible health care cards in order to get coverage. Then we can deal with the individual cases. If MLAs know of individual cases where this has become an issue, then the department is prepared to deal with those on a one-off basis.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up from my statement, I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, will the Minister transfer the Merv Hardie from Fort Providence to Tsiigehtchic.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. We are putting that under consideration and we should be able to have a decision made probably within the next three or four months on where that asset will be located.

I believe that this government needs to try to avoid the crisis that almost happened in Norman Wells, and the best way to do that in the Mackenzie Delta is to transfer the Merv Hardie ferry to the Tsiigehtchic ferry crossing this summer to commence operation as soon as possible. Will the Minister commit to that?

The Merv Hardie served this government and the people of the Northwest Territories very well at Fort Providence. It will require some work, a bit of a refit, but certainly, once that refit is complete, we’d look at locating that ferry at Tsiigehtchic. That has been under consideration and we will continue to take a look at where that ferry will be best utilized here in the NWT.

I thank the Minister. I have no further questions at this time.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have any questions today.

Okay. I saw your hand go up, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. Last fall I asked the Minister about vacant home ownership units in Detah and Ndilo in the riding of Weledeh. The waiting list for public and market rent units is long, and the people can’t see the sense of leaving unsold units standing vacant. The Minister replied, saying that approval notice for home ownership applications would be issued January 31st, and that home ownership units not allocated will be used as replacement of public housing units or market rental units.

How many of these units were sold under Housing Choices in Ndilo and Detah and how many have been released for public or market housing?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister responsible for NWT Housing, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as the ones in Detah and Ndilo go, I’m not quite sure how many have actually been sold yet and then the ones that are vacant out there, so I will undertake to get that information for the Member. I know I did commit to getting the information for the Member. There’s still a little work to do, but I will get that information not only for Detah and Ndilo but for the units across the Northwest Territories.

I did, indeed, give the Minister considerable notice here, so I appreciate that I will be getting that information very soon.

Last session I asked the Minister why home ownership units stand unsold, pointing out that income rating and debt restrictions often prevent people from meeting program eligibilities. A more individual approach is needed. Both the Housing Corporation and I would like to see increased home ownership.

What is the Minister doing to evaluate the Housing Choices program to include some applicant file audits and to pursue other measures to tune up the program and get people into home ownership units?

We have made some changes to our Home Ownership Program. We’re actually just in the process of putting a Minister’s statement together in which we will make the announcement within the next week or so. But the Member is correct, though; there has been a great concern across the Northwest Territories about the number of vacant units. I believe that at one particular time we had 130 vacant units, and that was because we were taking advantage of the federal infrastructure money and getting these units on the ground, and we were left with a situation where we have allotted many more units than actually approved clients.

But we are making some changes to our Home Ownership Program. A couple years ago we tried a program where if you were slightly over the core need income threshold you would still be considered, because right now if you were a dollar over, you would automatically be declined, so we tried to make some changes to that. We had limited success, so we’re still trying to come up with ways that we could get people into home ownership. But we have managed to fill a lot of the vacant units. I think we’ve got, maybe, 65 right now across the Northwest Territories. We’re just completing our evaluation on the intake. I understand there might be about 12 people across the territory that have been approved so far for the HELP program and possibly about seven for the PATH program. And then again, the ones that we can’t sell or get homeowners into, we will either use them for market housing in the community or turn them into public housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has outlined many of the concerns that we have with this situation. He has also expressed a commitment to get me the information for Ndilo and Detah and for the Northwest Territories. I appreciate that.

When can I expect to receive that, recognizing that I have given advance notice? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have the information to the Member by the end of day Monday. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to ask some questions on the… I don’t know if the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment had any update on the contaminated soil that was recently exposed by Enbridge Pipelines during their remediation digs. I’d just like to ask the Minister if he has had an update on the contaminated soil that was dug up. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re certainly aware of the situation in Nahendeh and the contaminated soil. Perhaps we have some folks from Environment and Natural Resources that would be better able to respond to that question. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister had directed me to the Minister of ENR. If I can do that and ask him, has he had an update from Enbridge Pipelines on the contaminated soil that was dug up on the remediation digs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Only the Premier can do that, in regard to changing, but I’ll put you back on the list. Thank you. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on my Member’s statement. I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with regard to the focus that we put on heritage in the NWT and in the activities of the department. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could explain to me and to the House what we currently do to support heritage activities. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As you know, currently we provide some funding allocation to culture and heritage organizations. Within that, there are approximately 15 different organizations that we sponsor. Out of the 15, there are approximately seven of them who are with respect to the cultural projects, heritage, Yamozha Kue Society, the museum, historical centres, heritage centres and so forth and also the Minister’s Cultural Circle is another venue that we recognize for valuable contribution towards the Northwest Territories on preserving our culture, language and our heritage. Those individuals will definitely fall within the groups and organizations and also Minister’s choice. Those are venues that are available to them so we continue to strive towards that. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that we do, as a government, provide some funding for heritage activities, but the Minister received this letter from the nine organizations who are looking for more funding, obviously, everybody wants more funding, but they are also looking for a little more assistance, I think, to sort of profile some of their activities.

To quote from the letter, the activities of these nine organizations create an enhanced learning, research, tourism, employment and business opportunities across the NWT, and that’s a pretty broad reach. I’d like to know from the Minister – he’s mentioned the number of activities that are out there – how much funding. What are the dollars that are available to these nine heritage organizations to promote their activities and to actually do their programs? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my response to the letter, I was in full agreement with the suggestion of the heritage, culture and history. They all complement each other. I would like to take this opportunity to better inform the new part of the Minister’s Cultural Circle Recognition Program. With the funding the Member alluded to, I can certainly provide the detailed list. I do have approximately $2.2 million that is going towards all 15 different organizations. Out of that, it will be what the Member is referring to, those nine organizations, and I can provide the breakdown. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that commitment and I look forward to the information. I think the Minister said that he has responded to the letter that came from the nine organizations. I don’t believe the Minister copied us on that letter. If he did, I haven’t seen it yet.

I’d like to know from the Minister what the Minister’s response was to the four or five requests that were in the letter that he received in December. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the letter I was referring to was a response to the NWT Mine Heritage Society, that letter I received, and I responded to the individual, the president. Also, there was a distribution list with all the MLAs. The information has been sent and shared with the NWT Mine Heritage Society as a response. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not having seen what the response to the group’s requests were, I know the letter came on letterhead from the NWT Mine Heritage Society, but it certainly was signed by nine different organizations. I’d like to ask the Minister if he at least is considering expanding the Minister’s Cultural Circle to be a Minister’s culture and heritage circle in terms of the awards that he presents on an annual basis. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister’s Culture Circle, again, does highlight those individual groups and organizations, also individuals. There are elders, youth, and Minister’s choice. It does consist of heritage as well, so it’s not exclusive just to the culture and language. It covers heritage as well. In order to fulfill those requests, we need to have those discussions with the various groups. We’ve done that with the Minister’s Culture Circle before we initiated the project, but to consult and engage with public stakeholders. We do have a program in place that already has been very successful to date, a couple of years now. The Minister’s Culture Circle will continue to promote that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services following up on my Member’s statement with what residents have been asking for, and one in particular is with the Midwifery Program and dollars that are being allocated for this program here that was a suggestion brought forth by Members of the Assembly. I’m just wondering what the intention of dollars that are being allocated for this Midwifery Program, where they are going to be allocated and what the intention is of those dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The plan for 2013-14 in this budget session for midwifery is community consultation activities for Hay River, review and update NWT Midwifery Practice Framework and midwifery regulations, hire a Midwifery Program development consultant and midwifery project coordinator at the department to support ongoing planning and program development activities, Hay River community Midwifery Program planning activities, and community consultation activities for Beaufort-Delta communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, with all the mention of community consulting and consulting with Inuvik, I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, is he familiar with the Department of Health and Social Services’ Midwifery Program review and expansion analysis midwifery options report of March 2012. Is the Minister familiar with that report? Can he confirm, please?

I am familiar with the report, I don’t have all the details of the report, but I do have enough details in the report to move forward in the direction that the department is taking it. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister just mentioned that he knows enough in the report to move forward on what the report is saying. The report is saying we need a community-based midwifery report. I mean, if he knows enough to move forward on that, why aren’t we doing that and we’re going into consultation where the consultation is all done in this report? So it really makes me wonder about that.

Can the Minister kind of confirm why dollars are being spent in regulations and standards when our previous Minister of Health has this signed off on the standards of practice for registered midwives? Can the Minister justify why he’s putting more money into regulations and standards when there’s already one in the report? Thank you.

Thank you. Midwifery is not a cost-savings measure. Midwifery is to provide a service that will be put into place for the health of the children and for the long-term benefits to the health system. It’s not an immediate cost savings. Any cost savings that would come as a result of midwifery through medical travel and so on will be eaten up by incremental costs of hiring midwives. So we can’t approach this and say we’re going to put Midwifery Program feet on the ground right away and start seeing the results of savings. That’s not going to happen.

What will happen is, in the long run, as we expand a proper Midwifery Program, we’re going to see the development of the children that are working with midwives, and that’s why we’re trying to expand from a community Midwifery Program, which has regulations, to a regional Midwifery Program, which needs updated regulations, and to a territorial Midwifery Program, which will need further regulations. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been a long week and I came into the House this morning pretty tired and I needed something to wake me up, and I’m really glad the Minister’s statement did wake me up here, yup. There’s a lot of savings, this investment that we’re doing into midwives, and I’m really concerned about what the Minister just said in terms of cost-savings measures. There’s so many different cost savings, so many benefits. I’d like to ask the Minister where the report is and where does he get his findings from to justify and confirm what he just previously said in his statement. Thank you.

Thank you. Most of it is common sense. The reduction in medical travel will happen, yes, if you had midwives in Yellowknife. However, right now people are coming to Yellowknife to have babies. People are coming to Inuvik to have babies. That’s not going to change. Whether the midwives are in Inuvik or the midwives are in Yellowknife, that’s not changing. The people are still coming here. There’s still medical travel to come here. So that’s the territorial program, same with Inuvik.

Now in Fort Smith, about half of the people that are having babies in Fort Smith are still coming to Yellowknife. Now that they have physicians, that number may change. Hay River does not have physicians. So as we expand Hay River, we’re anticipating that similar numbers may result in Hay River. So there is where you will see some cost savings. Half of the people in Hay River may not have to travel to Yellowknife to have their babies. It’s a community program. However, the savings will be less than the incremental costs of hiring midwives and paying their salaries. It’s pretty simple.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Interesting morning. I rise today and follow up on my Member’s statement today on what did the Department of Health and Social Services learn from the Minister of Finance budget housing dialogue 2012 talks this past fall. As indicated, Health is cited by most participants as the area for most opportunities of savings.

I have been critical since day one on this job on the lack of spending for health initiatives and I stand steadfast to this. However, today I want to work on the other side of that equals sign and focus on savings of opportunity, especially medical travel and medevac services. So my questions today will be for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Could the Minister of Health and Social Services indicate what his department has done as a result of the findings of Budget Dialogue 2012 with the residents of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department recognizes that prevention is probably the key to long-term savings for the department. Some of the money that we’re putting into the system on prevention, at the end of the day, downstream, will have positive financial benefits to the department. So that is probably the main thing.

In as far as medical travel goes, we recognize that maybe medical travel is not as efficient as it should be. There are a lot of pressures on medical travel. People put pressures on medical travel and sometimes individuals that may not be eligible for an escort, as an example, will request one and then there’s pressure put upon departments for the department to provide that additional cost. So, some of those things are there. Then we rely on Stanton to deliver it, thinking that Stanton was the best location for the delivery of the program, but because of a lot of the politics around it and everything, we’re now reviewing that one item, medical travel, one program, and we’re thinking about centralizing that at the department. Thank you.

Thank you, I appreciate the Minister’s response, but I’m referring to the budget dialogue, the voices of the people. More importantly, what opportunities for efficiencies in medical travel services has the Department of Health and Social Services identified as a result of such talks with residents, and are these recommendations in action today or are they coming soon? Thank you.

As a Minister of Health, I’m trying to develop things today that will have a savings in the future. I recognize that the Minister of Finance has done the tour on the ways that they can put the savings into the budget and, as the Member indicates, a lot of them are related to Health as a department, and consulting with my senior managers and finding out how do we think that we can meet some of the objectives of the people in the Territories and that’s what we’re doing. We’re putting together things that we think are huge cost drivers in the system and we’re trying to curb that now so that they will stop being huge cost drivers in the system. An example of that is addictions, early childhood development and many other items that we have in our budget that are working in that direction. Thank you.

Thank you, I appreciate the Minister’s response, but again, I want to focus my questions and response to the medical travel and the concerns the residents have. So a medical travel review has been promised for years now. What assurances can the Minister of Health and Social Services offer and to the people of the Northwest Territories that we will see an improved and more efficient service and travel policy in the life of the 17thAssembly? Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t know how long the promise of reviewing medical travel has gone on. I do know that at this time we are a bit behind in our schedule for reviewing medical travel. Like I indicated in the House yesterday, there are a lot of pressures in our system, a lot of pressures to do a lot of different things in the system. As we had the human resources in the department allocated to certain projects, this is one of the projects which is kind of stumbling out of the blocks, because there’s a lot of real high-priority issues for the department. We are planning to do a review of it and we’re planning on trying to make it more efficient. If the plan was to review it and we didn’t think we could make medical travel more efficient, then we probably wouldn’t do the review, but this is the thought that somehow, some way we will make medical travel more efficient and also dealing with the politics of medical travel too.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m still concerned and confused. We’ve heard the voice of reason of the people. We should treat these as ladders of opportunity to make meaningful changes, especially with what we’ve heard on medical travel from our residents. We’ve heard that the Minister is a great proponent of common-sense approach policies so I’m going to ask the Minister: Will we have a common-sense approach to this policy, in terms of using what we know from the residents and applying those today, so that we have meaningful changes to our Medical Travel Policy at this juncture within the life of this physical Assembly?

Yes, we will continue to employ common sense. The medical travel, we must remember that many individuals who have their opinion on medical travel is based on what they have gone through themselves. There are many, many, many scenarios with medical travel. We have to look at all of them. We also have to take into account the delivery of the program, the politics of it, the regulations. All of those aspects are things that we’re looking at to try and make it more efficient, and to develop a policy that does have common sense and is responsible through the government.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.