We are in Canada. Regardless of where you go, as a Canadian citizen, to receive health services they are covered through reciprocal billing. In the Northwest Territories, if somebody from Fort Resolution made the personal choice to go see a practitioner in Hay River today, there is nothing stopping them from doing that.

When the system kicks in, whether or not somebody is going to get support, say through something like medical travel, it would have to be based on a referral. There is nothing stopping residents from Fort Resolution going to see a doctor in Yellowknife or going to see a doctor in Hay River. If they receive a referral to go out for services outside of their community, that is when something like medical travel would kick in. If you are making a choice to go to Hay River or making a choice to go to Yellowknife to see a practitioner that would be on your dime, not on medical travel. I am not sure if that is what the Member is getting at, but that is the way it is set up.

That is sort of what I am looking for. Right now, if a patient presents in Fort Resolution at the health centre then the referral is to Yellowknife. My question was that if a person presents at the health centre, is it an easy possibility for them, today, if their medical travel would be covered today to get referred to a doctor if there is a general practitioner in Hay River?

I really want to say yes, but it really depends on the nature of the condition on which the person is presenting. If it is a condition where they need to see a GP, but they don't need to see a GP today or tomorrow or even next week, it could be rescheduled for their own community, for when the GP is coming in. If the individual is presenting with a more serious condition that needs immediate attention, it could be that they are referred to a specialist or a particular type of practitioner in Yellowknife. If that particular type of practitioner exists in Hay River, conceivably they could be referred there, but it really depends on what the condition of the individual is.

As far as the appointments and having regular appointments in Hay River, I will check where we are with our memorandums of understanding and agreement to see what is available as far as referrals. If the person has a condition that can't be dealt with in Hay River, they would not be referred to Hay River. They might have to fly through Hay River or drive through Hay River to fly to another location, which I know can be frustrating, but we need to send them to where the services are.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of my constituents from Fort Resolution, I want to ask the Minister if he could tell me when he anticipates this coming into effect, and if, in fact, currently, the services in Hay River, if the health and social services medical travel policy could travel individuals from Fort Resolution to travel to Hay River to see a doctor at the services there? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to services currently provided in Hay River, I believe those agreements are already in place; I will confirm that for the Member. As far as medical travel, medical travel will cover any of our northern residents if they are referred to a service in a different community. If they are referred to a service that is in Hay River, and it has to be a service that is in Hay River, medical travel would apply obviously. If the service is not available in Hay River, medical travel would apply to the point where it is available recognizing our protocols. Our agreements are with Alberta. At this point, it would require you to go to an institution in Alberta or Stanton if Stanton is where the service happens to be. But I will confirm where our relationships are with respect to memorandums of agreement and understanding with the Hay River authority at this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to return to my line of questioning to the new campus facility here in Yellowknife. I would like to ask the Minister of Education if he will direct his department to put the new campus into the capital planning process so we can start to get underway on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we just finished our capital planning budget, there are a lot of priorities that are out there and needs right from our smallest community to here in Yellowknife. We have 23 learning centres in some of our communities throughout the North. We have three campuses that we feel that the space can be used a little bit better. At this time, I won't direct my department to put it in the next capital budget. We are going to wait for that strategic plan to come before all Members of this Assembly and look at what space and needs are needed here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, apart from the strategic plan that will come out of Aurora College, that facility needs serious work and is inadequate for many of the needs that the other two campuses in Fort Smith and Inuvik enjoy. I spoke to science and research development opportunities. This is simply not there. I am not asking the Minister to pay for it. I am asking the Minister to begin the planning process for it, not to commit to spending on it, but to commit to starting to do the work on it. Sometimes it can take five, 10 years to move these projects along. If we start work on it now, we can be better positioned to take advantage of it later. Will the Minister commit to directing the department to put it in the capital planning process?

The department has already done work in terms of how much a new campus would cost. If we are looking to do a new planning study, that has to go through the capital budget as well. Money needs to go in to develop the schematic design. Moving forward, as I mentioned, we are not going to know what kind of space is needed until we see what that strategic plan looks like. We are waiting for that to be completed before we make any decisions that are going to cost this government and the taxpayers millions of dollars.

Can the Minister indicate how much this new campus will cost?

Under the work that has been done by the department in terms of looking at Yellowknife campuses, somewhere in the amount of over $60 million. It will change as we move forward because costs for building supplies usually go up, somewhere around those figures. Like I said, it has to go through the process. It is in the 20-year needs assessment, as well as looking at the strategic plan, waiting for that, to see what space and needs are required.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is nice to know that we do have a ballpark figure for this. I appreciate that there are many needs across the territory. At the same time, if we are going to invest in post-secondary education, we need the right facilities to do it. A new campus facility could be a strategic investment to support local economies in our capital. It can create jobs. It can create new opportunities and allow students to stay within the North to achieve their educational aspirations. Again, can the Minister start working on a feasibility for this and reaching out to partners in the federal government and in the private sector and private citizens to look for endowment, to find money for this project, which would be of crucial importance to supporting our people here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's exactly what we're doing. When we look at any kind of strategic investments in our infrastructure we've got to put it up against what other needs are in the communities. We have some small communities. For instance, in the last government we had one of our smallest communities that just had a running toilet/washroom. I don't know if the Members remember that. So when we're looking for a new campus, we've got to look at our needs assessment right from our smallest communities and put it up against what's already existing in some of our big communities and regional centres here in Yellowknife.

My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Regarding the co-management boards governing the Mackenzie Valley and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, what steps have been taken to track and publicly report on the status of co-management board appointments and vacancies, and:

1. What measures have been put in place to forewarn of co-management board vacancies;

2. What measures have been put in place to avoid the occurrence of co-management board vacancies resulting in the loss of board quorum;

3. What discussions have taken place with the federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs on improved processes for the prompt appointment of co-management board members; and,

4. What future actions are planned in cooperation with our federal counterparts to improve the timeliness and efficiency of co-management board appointment processes?

Third set of questions, Mr. Speaker

My questions are for the Minister of Lands. Section 3.1 of the Commissioner's Land Act establishes the requirement for the posting of security on the factors for determining security amount, for restoration of lands, and for refund of security. Please provide a listing of the commercial and industrial leases on Commissioner’s land issued since February 15, 2011 including the lease number, general location, issue date, amount and form of security required, and:

1. Whether an exemption was granted under any leases from the requirement to provide security, including the reasons why the exemption was granted;

2. A general explanation of how the amount of security is calculated under this regime;

3. A general explanation of how the posting of security is managed and tracked under this regime; and,

4. In instances where securities have been returned, the amount and reasons for the return of security.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Mind and Spirit: Promoting Mental Health and Addictions Recovery in the Northwest Territories," and "Building a Culturally Respectful Health and Social Services System, October 2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.