Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the gallery, I would like to recognize Ms. Lydia Bardak. She is always a stalwart attender here at the Assembly, so I want to thank her for her interest; as well as Mr. Krutko, a good friend and former colleague; and finally, last but not least, I would like to recognize the great Anthony W.J. Whitford, a constituent of Weledeh but a constituent who belongs to everyone. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I would like to again welcome Mr. Krutko, a former colleague; and my cousin Wanda Norwegian; and my mayor from Tuk and a good friend, Mr. Mervin Gruben. Welcome to the House. I would like to welcome all visitors here in the public gallery for taking an interest in our proceedings here today, the first day of session. Thank you for coming.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to acknowledge and congratulate my constituent Michael Gilday on his January 20th first place

victory at the Canadian Open Short-track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal. Advancing steadily from his 2011 fifth place and 2012 third place finishes in this event, Michael Gilday is now the national champion in this world-class competition. Michael edged out defending champion Charles Hamelin and also placed fourth in both the 1,000 and 3,000 metre races.

I invite all Members to join me once again in offering hearty congratulations to Michael, and wish him great success throughout the remainder of this 2012-13 World Cup season. Michael, you make us proud. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about some of the elders that have passed away in the Sahtu. Even more sadly, these elders that passed away, passed away outside of their communities, in Yellowknife, and it was very hard in the last days of their lives for family to come and receive any last messages from these elders.

I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services for a status update as to the proposed long-term care facility in the Sahtu. People in the Sahtu would like to see that facility up and running so we do not have to send our elders outside of the Sahtu to have their last dying days outside of their home communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The long-term facility in Norman Wells, as the Members know, is well underway. All of the planning is complete. It’s a matter of doing the construction phase. I think the land has also been decided upon. That was a little bit of an issue. Also, the plan is to have, at the time the health centre/long-term care facility is open, everyone that is going to be working there trained. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for the update for the people in the Sahtu. I want to ask about the staffing and the positions of the Sahtu long-term care facility.

Are there plans underway to work with his colleagues to look at some of these positions that would be in this facility, and what type of training opportunities will be there for the people of the Northwest Territories to take advantage of once this facility is open?

When is that facility scheduled to be opened and operational for the people of the North and for the people of the Sahtu?

All of the requirements that are in for a home, a long-term care facility, will be met. Individuals that are working there will be trained. The exact timeline, the schedule is that there will be some construction this summer, and then continuing on probably, if the unit is closed, in that there will be further construction until finished the following season.

I do believe the facility is scheduled to be finished at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year. So through this coming fiscal year and being finished over the next fiscal year, with a full staff complement that’s needed to provide the service to the 18 long-term care patients that will be in there. Thank you.

Can the Minister inform me as to the training plan, training requirements that would be needed for this long-term care facility, and if he’s working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment as to the possibility of formalizing a training plan that would allow the people in the Sahtu to take advantage and maybe require some of our students to upgrade to enter into a specific type of training for this facility? Can the Minister inform me that he’s working with his colleague to then work with the Sahtu leadership on a training plan for this facility?

I can assure the Member that, yes, there will be training. Right now the facility in Behchoko is under construction, and we need to train staff there, as well, as we’ll be expanding from an eight bed facility to an 18 bed facility also in Behchoko. So the nursing and the home care, and all of the workers that are needed to operate the

facility in both places will be trained, and I can assure the Member that the staff will be up and ready to go by the time the facility opens. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to let this government know we appreciate the health centre and the long-term care facility. It’s been in my books for a long, long time, and I’d like to say to them that the people in the Sahtu appreciate this.

Can I ask the Minister if there’s an outline or a time frame that he could provide to me in regard to a training plan, so I can inform and work with this Cabinet to let the people in the Sahtu know when these training opportunities will be available so that our young students who are graduating and finishing school can take further courses to upgrade and enter into this training program once it’s up and running in the Sahtu?

The Department of Health and Social Services and the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority are currently discussing training requirements and working with Aurora College for that required training. So I can provide the Member with the plan and schedule as to what type of positions will be needed, and at what time the training will be required to be able to operate that facility. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It is in reference to my Member’s statement.

I would like to ask the Minister what is the policy of this government and of his department with respect to a family member accompanying a patient on a medical evacuation charter. Thank you.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. The policy is essentially the safety of the individual that’s being transported as a first priority. So usually when there is room on a medevac, an individual, depending on the nature of the injury or the sickness of the patient, generally if there’s an opportunity or a vacancy within the plane, it’s usually filled by a health practitioner. That’s generally the policy, that if there’s an escort required or someone that needs to be with the

patient, that person gets flown in on the next available flight. Thank you.

So am I to understand that even if there is room on the plane that is being used for the medevac for an additional passenger, it would be the policy of this government that that passenger or family member would not be allowed on that medical charter? Is that what the Minister is saying? Thank you.

Like I said, the first priority is the health and well-being of the patient. Now, it is still a medical decision. So it would be the medical practitioners that are making the decision whether or not they think it’s safe for the patient if the individual would take the escort with them, whether it be a family member or somebody’s spouse and so on. But generally, usually when we use medevac it’s because it’s urgent, and under urgent situations we generally try to use the spaces in the facility for somebody that would be able to assist the patient if they were to become distressed during the medevac flight. Thank you.

I’m not completely familiar with what type of planes are used for medical evacuations, and certainly I understand that if a person is having a medical emergency, they do need to have a trained medical professional accompany them on that medevac if required.

My question is: Does the medical practitioner at the originating end of the medevac have the discretionary ability, if there’s room over and above medical staff on that charter, to allow a family member to accompany the patient on that charter?

Decisions made by medical practitioners, I suppose they would have that discretion.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I could go to a policy of the Department of Health and Social Services somewhere and find this discretionary authority of a medical practitioner to allow a family member on a medevac? I could find that policy in writing someplace?