Mr. Speaker, I'm already on the record, indicating that I've already directed the department to begin the work on the development of a sobering centre. In fact, we're out currently looking for a location for a sobering centre here, in Yellowknife. As the Minister responsible for Homelessness pointed out, initially, we're intending to fund that from within. We need to get it in place, figure out what the costs are going to be, and move forward accordingly.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Minister could tell us whether he is looking at contracting a nonprofit to deliver the services of the sobering centre or whether that will be done by departmental staff? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the design, we're looking at both options, and we haven't yet come to a conclusion, but we are exploring, basically, all the options to move this initiative forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the most courageous and positive proposals in the road map is the creation of a managed alcohol program. Of course, implementation of this proposal will require healthcare professionals who are very knowledgeable about harm reduction. Is the Minister prepared to do the pilot project that the road map suggests? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions came up, very similar questions came up, a week or two ago. At that time, I indicated the Department of Health and Social Services is absolutely open to doing a pilot in this area, harm reduction, managed alcohol, but the first thing we need to do, Mr. Speaker, is get the sobering centre up and running. It will be our priority once the sobering centre is up and running. We'll be in a better position to design a managed alcohol program. In my mind and I think the mind of others, the two of these come together quite nicely, and this would be the appropriate way to move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in reviewing the "Auditor General's Report on Municipal and Community Affairs," it appears that to correct many of these recommendations and the responses from the department, itself, will require further resources. It talks about adding additional resources for training, additional staff. Quite a significant amount of work needs to be done to implement this. Has the Minister begun the process of costing this out, and can she inform this House of what this increased funding will require of our government? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the new Minister -- I've taken over the Municipal and Community Affairs -- I was aware that the audit was in the process, but it was only yesterday or the day before yesterday that the audit was shared with me. It is a confidential document and is not allowed to be distributed until it's finished. So, being that I've only just been presented with the audit by the auditors, and I'm not sure if it was yesterday or the day before but just within the last two days, I haven't really thought about all of the costing, in all honesty. I'm still looking at the recommendations and seeing what, prioritizing, where we need to move forward with that. Thank you, speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister provided a similar response yesterday, that this is the first opportunity the Minister has been able to see the report. However, on September 7th, the media report reported the deputy minister at the time reporting to have seen a preliminary version of this report and to have made recommendations. In the final report from the Auditor General's office, the department agrees with all recommendations. Although I know the Minister is new in this role, the department has been working on this for at least a year, and that's from the Auditor General's office. If the Minister is not prepared to answer fully, what is the department saying? Surely the department must have a detailed and thorough plan to address these deficiencies and how much it's going to cost so this House can know if it's going to put more pressure on our fiscal crisis.

The Member is correct in many means. I mean, the Auditor General does work with the department very closely to address the areas. They look at the plan. They address the areas where they are going to look at. They ask questions. They ask for research. They get documents back. They ask more questions. So it is quite a process. The department does have some knowledge, preliminary, even guesstimates, preliminary, on where the audit is going to go. They are provided a draft. Then they are allowed to put recommendations in that. I believe it is a last chance to appeal any of the decisions that are made.

The Auditor General is very strict in saying that document is not allowed to be released until they are finished the report. Therefore, even as Minister, I do not get access to that document until I have met with the auditors. I am not sure if it is a legislation, but it is their rules that says that the document is not allowed to leave their hands until they are finished with it. So I have only received that document, and I am in the process of reviewing it. It is not the department's job to define what the priorities are. It will be my job to define what the priorities are. I take that audit very seriously and will be doing a thorough review of the audit.

I appreciate the Minister clarifying that for the benefit of the public. If that is the

case then, who is writing in the report that they agree with the audit and laying out action plans that include items that require cost? Thank you.

So the auditor does work with the management team within the departments when they are looking at recommendations when they are addressing what is going to be in the actual audit. That is done by the management team, but like I said again, that information is not share with the Minister until it is publicly released. That was only publicly released to me within the last couple of days.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In that case, Mr. Speaker, does the Minister then, as she does not put pen to these recommendations, does she in fact support everything that her management team has put forward, and will she find the means to pay for it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When I met with the Auditor General, we went through the report thoroughly. I agreed with all of the recommendations, and I did make a commitment that I would work towards addressing the recommendations that are in the audit.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also have questions for the Minister of MACA. MACA prepared a report on highway rescue and ground ambulance services in 2006. Ten years ago, this was already an important enough issue to warrant a report. According to the Minister's predecessor, it is an issue that is brought up every year at the NWT Association of Communities' AGM. I have brought it to the Minister's attention in this House, outside of this House, the Town of Hay River has brought it to your attention, and I am sure they are not the only municipality to do so.

Given the desire to deal with this issue, for the funding and the legislation of highway rescue and ground ambulance services, I would like to hear the Minister's plan to address the funding and legislative issues related to ground ambulance and highway services once and for all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs actually has done a lot of work with looking at the ground ambulance and the highway rescue services that we provide to the Northwest Territories. We do have some agreements in place where the municipalities that have the ambulance services actually are able to extend their boundaries outside of their municipalities. That is a coordinated approach that we do. The team was the Departments of Justice, Transportation, Health and Social Services, and Municipal and Community Affairs, who took the lead on that committee that we did.

I should also state that we also have air ambulance services that are provided. If there is a need, if somebody calls into the RCMP or the health centre and they need a medical response, it is sent over to a dispatch and the medical response will dispatch an air ambulance into the remote location. We have probably not the comprehensive that the Members would like, but we do have an interim plan until we can identify new funding to look further into this.

As stated many times by the Ministers, we need to ensure that we can do some reduction so that we can invest in new initiatives. This is a new initiative that will cost millions of dollars. We need to make sure that we are using our finances appropriately and that we can look for money to provide this service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am aware of what has happened since 2006. The previous Minister gave me the same explanation. The plan seems to be the status quo minus the funding. That is not much of a plan. I don't want this to be my white whale, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister have an idea of when actual steps are going to be taken to start addressing this issue, even if it is next year, the year after, the year after, if they have a plan for 2025? Is there a timeline where we can expect real progress?

The departments have worked really hard on this issue. We do feel that we have a coordinated approach to dealing with it currently. I do hear the Member's concerns that we are not doing enough. I can't give a timeline on it, in all honesty, but I can commit that I will talk to the departments and see if we can provide a response to the Member on what kind of timeline we are looking at.