I'd like to ask the Minister: What problems are causing the construction of the elders' facility to be delayed?

We had a couple of problems, actually, with the starting of it. We negotiated with the contractor in 2015 and this summer, he started working on it. He installed 11 piles in July, but we didn't have our geotechnical inspector on-site so we stopped work on that project. We need to have the proper regulators watching when they're doing the construction. As the MLA had stated earlier there were also some water issues and we are working with the contractor. Now we’re back on track and the building will be completed within this fiscal year.

When can the people of Fort McPherson expect the work on this facility to be completed?

November 2016.

That sounds great. Hopefully we have no other issues and if we do I'll have more questions for the Minister later. ---Laughter

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to follow up on my Member's statement with questions to the Minister of Finance. Can the Minister of Finance explain what he means by working together to make these hard decisions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. Honourable Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a process in the Legislative Assembly that we go through where we appear before a committee with our business planning process outlining some of the challenges we're facing and then we get feedback from committee, and we will develop our main estimates that we will debate in the May/June budget session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister please provide us with a picture of who was involved in coming up with these ideas for cuts, reductions, and revenue options?

Mr. Speaker, we have tasked our senior officials with providing us with some options to have a look at the workings of each department within the Government of Northwest Territories and we will work with committee. I have committed to the Priorities and Planning Committee that I would have a discussion with them again and that we will go through the business plan planning exercise. We will get more feedback from Committee as to how we are going to deal with the situation that's facing us, and then we will develop our main estimates that we will table in May/June. I must emphasize, Mr. Speaker, that we are still spending approximately $1.7 billion in our budget for the people for the people of Northwest Territories.

I’d like to thank the Minister for his answer. Can the Minister of Finance please tell us how the frontline public servants have been involved in providing recommendations to this government?

Mr. Speaker, again, we have tasked our senior officials, our deputies, with finding some options and bring forward to Cabinet that we can in turn share with committee. As part of that process, they would talk to all those in their department right down to the regional level as to some of the recommendations that they may have as to how we can address some of the challenges that are facing us. I'm sure there's a process that goes down and then they report back to the deputies who in turn would come forward to this Cabinet with some options and we would share them with committee and get their feedback as well.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. Is there any way that you can provide the Regular Members with a flowchart or how this message was relayed to the public servants, and if there's a way that the public servants are encouraged to provide this information? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There has been no decisions made yet, but I take the Member's point. We will have a discussion with all those involved because this would have far-reaching implications across the Northwest Territories, at the same time we need to make sure that we live within our means. It's prudent on us as government to seek input from all those involved across the Northwest Territories and we commit to doing that, and I've committed to the committee that I would find some time with them during this particular session and give them an update as to the work that we're doing.

Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Mahsi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the budget there are actually some dollars allocated for the transition from the old facility into the new facility. It's about $200,000. Our intention is to develop a transition plan, but we do have a bit of time. This facility doesn't open until tentatively March 2017, so the transition plan hasn't been fully formed. Once it’s done, I'm happy to share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In that case, my next question, Mr. Speaker, is to seek who is actually holding the transition plan. When I talked to the CEO in Norman Wells, she says they're moving in in November. So actually, which is it?

I’d need to confirm. The information I'm familiar with suggests that we will take ownership of that building in March 2017, at which point we will start moving into an official opening of the building. I don't believe a date has been determined, but I will talk to the CEO to see which date she is working on.

My next question to the Minister is: If there is going to be a transitional plan for a portion of the department moving into the building this coming November, can the Minister provide the documentation to discuss some of the logistics and staffing that would be eventually included in the transitional plan?

Some initial work was done identifying the types of positions that would be required in that new facility as a result of it taking a new function in the Sahtu. The 18 long-term care beds was something that didn't exist in the region before. I'm happy to share the information that we have as we develop a transition report. I'm happy to have a sit-down with the Member and bring him up to speed on what's happening in that region. I do believe we have a bit of time. It's my understanding, as I indicated, that we're not taking ownership of that building until March 31, 2017, so we still have a bit of time.