Oh right. Sorry, mandate review, Mr. Chair. We're committed to doing a complete supp health review, figuring out those types of things that the Member has described in 2018-19, and we will certainly do that at that time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Minister. My next question is on medical travel. How does the department determine what airline they're going to be transferring patients with? Say if someone is in Hay River and needs to be sent up to Yellowknife. Well, obviously there's only one airline now, but how is that determination made? Is there a standing offer? Is there some deal with a particular airline or is it open to the lowest bidder? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I know we have standing offer agreements with airlines like Canadian North and First Air, whichever is the cheapest and the most appropriate for the time. So in Hay River the individuals would fly up on First Air and then if they need to go to Edmonton they would fly out on either First Air or Canadian North, whichever is cheaper. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So theoretically if another airline wanted to come and start flying the route from Hay River to Yellowknife or Hay River to Edmonton, First Air or whoever you have the agreement with could just undercut them until that airline was no longer viable and the government would have to go with First Air because of the agreement and so it essentially keeps other airlines out of the market. Am I understanding this correctly? Is that how things would work? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe it was in the last government that this particular standing offer agreement was established. It is reviewed every couple of years. I do believe the discussion around whether or not we go for standing offer agreements in the future is coming up. It might be six months. It might be a year. I can't remember the exact date, but I know that it does have a finite time limit.

I will confirm what the duration of this particular standing offer agreement is. I hear the Member's concern, but I could also argue that it might go the exact opposite. They have got a captive market as a result of the standing offer agreement. They might charge more.

Bottom line is, we look at this every couple of years. We try to figure out what is best for the North, best for the residents, and most affordable. I've had some individuals in places like Fort Smith suggest that it would be great to fly Northwestern Air Lease rather than having to come up to Yellowknife, or in Hay River. Coming up to Yellowknife, it might be better just to fly direct. These are things that we're looking at as we move forward in the future with the new standing offer agreement, should we choose to go that direction. It might be better if we just went lowest bid, whichever is most convenient to get us south, which might open us up to West Jet, or Air Canada, or Northwest Air Lease. I'm prepared to look at all options to help us control costs of medical travel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. How do you get these conversations that happen where you say it would save the government money by not having a standing offer agreement? It just feels as though the market is really held captive by the standing offer agreements and no new airlines are going to start flying out of Hay River, is what I'm concerned about. That's why it is $1,000 return for a 25-minute flight, and it seems like something has to change, and this might be the first piece now. This is something that I will be pursuing a little bit further, and I'll follow up with the Minister to find out when the standing offer agreement is going to be looked at again. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll get the information update on when this particular round of standing offer agreements ends. As I said, I think we must be open to look at alternatives to ensure that medical travel remains as supportable as possible, but that we're not adversely affecting other airlines or the existing airlines in any negative ways. I think we have to look at the market, for sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and you might have to adversely affect some of the airlines, otherwise it's protectionism, really, so you have to look at what's best for the governments, and the bottom line, as well as, obviously, the services that you are providing. I guess that is the end of that line of questioning. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Any further questions? Next, we have Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The questions asked for the previous Member answered most of my questions on medical travel. Sticking with medical travel, I don't know if this is the line to ask, but with the high cost of medical travel being this high, do you think that in the future, longer -- in my region of Nunakput, the cost of travel is high, and sometimes it's days. I am just wondering if this is the right avenue to ask, if having longer doctor visits in the region would bring these costs down a bit to balance it out a little bit to ensure that clients get the care they need? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as I have indicated, moving to a single system is our over-arching theme, or our goal is client-focused. Focus on the patient, client-based, a client-based system. Having said that, because not every service can be provided in every community, medical travel is going to continue to be a necessity. By working together as one authority, we've had the opportunity to look at different standards, different practices, having authorities cooperating, including Stanton, to a greater degree, with some of the remote communities and some of the work done.

We also put in a program called Med Response which is basically the first program of its type in Canada where we have professional staff available to community health nurses and others, including access directly to a doctor. If somebody calls from Nunakput, as an example, they could call Med Response, talk immediately to a doctor. Med Response has actually helped us reduce some issues, or some demand for Medevac, but also has been able to help us avoid medical travel when proper diagnosis can be done on-site.

We have a long way to go here, and I think we've already seen some benefits of the single authority in helping us curb some of the utilization of things like med travel and air ambulance. We are still early days, so we need to continue to encourage our residents to use the quality control mechanisms. When they are frustrated, we need to have the residents continue to work with us to share their frustrations, but also their good points, so that we can do continual quality improvement moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister. Getting back to medical travel, also in my region, sometimes language is a barrier, as well as across the territory. Sometimes medical travel requires the need for an escort and also medical travel to understand the specific needs of Indigenous peoples, and people who sometimes cannot speak or read English properly. I just want to hear what the Minister has to say on that portion of medical travel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.