Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, the system doesn't eliminate choice, but medical travel costs would likely have to be borne by the resident. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm kind of disappointed to hear that, so we've kind of -- you're expecting if -- especially with low income people, they have no options. They just have to come to Yellowknife. They don’t have the opportunity to access the midwifery services. I'm concerned that this is the approach. Will the Minister look at this so we can allow residents the opportunity to choose how they want to delivery their babies? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s the exact work that we have our midwifery consultants who are working on the development of the Territorial Plan. That's exactly what they're doing. They're working on developing a plan and how it can be utilized across the Territories as a territorial model. That's exactly the work we're doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for the answer. I understand we're working on a plan. I totally appreciate that; however, right now they have no option unless they want to pay for it themselves. My colleague here talked about an individual going from Yellowknife to Hay River to access the service, but they had to pay out of their own pocket. That doesn't seem to be fair. Will the department look at this as they work on the plan to see if people wish to access the services that they can without having to pay out of their own pocket. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know how many times I can say, yes, that's exactly what we're doing, but, yes, that's exactly what we're doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yes, we're doing, but you're planning it right now, you're planning it, so right now if my daughter wishes to have her child -- and God forbid she's pregnant right now, but if she wishes to have her child delivered in Hay River, she would have to borne the cost because right now we don’t have the ability to allow that to happen without the healthcare system covering it, am I right in understanding? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The cost of the birth and the services provided by the midwife would not be borne by the resident. The medical travel costs, the costs of getting to Hay River because medical travel currently would be bringing you to your physician in the obstetrics program that has been facilitating the birth up to this point. So they would cover all the costs except for the medical travel, that wouldn't be covered at this point, but that's one of the issues that we're trying to address with the Territorial Midwifery Action Plan, the implementation plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for the answer, but we still have to do the medical travel. We still have to get there, so that there is going to be borne out of the individual's pocket. So that there is a challenge for me. We're not going to be able to solve it here today, I realize that, so I'll go onto my next question. Is this budget for all four hospitals or strictly for the Yellowknife Hospital or Stanton Hospital? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

All the hospitals.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister please provide rationale why they just lump it all together and they don’t break it out into the four hospitals there within the Territories. I believe Fort Smith has a hospital, Hay River, and Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do have that level of detail, but it's not provided in this particular budget document, but the Member's right. It's Beaufort Delta, Fort Smith, Hay River, and Stanton. We can provide that detail to the Member and Committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for the answer. Is there a rationale why we don’t have it in the business plan? I'm just trying to understand why it's not here in this document. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Thompson. Minister.