Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Government House Leader, but I've been waiting for about a third of my term now for some of this important legislation to come forward. Really, waiting to see these legislative proposals that are going to come forward from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

I think what's happening here, Mr. Speaker, is that our government is spending an inordinate amount of time on cost reductions to meet Cabinet's fiscal reductions, slashing public services to fund ill-defined infrastructure projects including department amalgamations that are driven by cost reductions.

Can the Government House Leader confirm that we no longer have the capacity to bring forward legislative changes because of those reductions and amalgamations that were not part of the approved mandate of the 18th Assembly? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to point out that that's purely an opinion of the Member. The departments are working hard to move forward legislation. They understand that a significant amount of work has been done. I've had an opportunity to talk to staff within my department, as well as staff within another department, who are committed to getting this work done. The reductions or corrections that have been done in this public service are done with significant discussion, analysis, to make sure that it does not adversely impact the work that needs to be done by this government.

I respect the Member's opinion. I disagree with the Member's opinion. The work is getting done. We have the staff to get it done. We will get it done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Last week, he, his Cabinet colleagues, and various officials attended the annual Mineral Exploration Roundup in Vancouver at an estimated cost of $75,000. Unsurprisingly, my constituents have been in touch with me about both the cost and the benefits of this trip. The media quoted the Minister saying: "I am confident that we will be returning to the North with the solutions that will define the next generation of exploration and mining in the NWT."

Could the Minister please elaborate on the solutions he returned with? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mineral Roundup, as I said last week when we were down there, is an important mission for this government in the Northwest Territories. We went down there and engaged with a number of stakeholders, from prospectors, to mining companies, to juniors, to finance companies, and got input on a number of things around the table, many of which my colleagues on my side have helped me discuss with these people in industry. We need to figure out a way to bring new mining people to the Northwest Territories to create new mining opportunities for the residents of the Northwest Territories, bringing jobs and business opportunities to fill the gaps that will be coming with the closure of the present diamond mines in the Northwest Territories. With these conversations that we've had with industries, and among the stakeholders and other government officials, we were trying to find solutions, to find a way to bring more mining investment to the Northwest Territories to benefit Northerners and businesses. That's what we did, and we've got a number of feedback from all people in industries. It was a great conference, and I believe a great investment on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Keeping in mind that a meeting is not an outcome, but a means to an end, could the Minister please elaborate on the solutions that he returned to Yellowknife with?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, we had a number of meetings with different stakeholders on how we can improve the mining situation in the Northwest Territories. If we want to get into specifics, the solutions, I could stand here and probably talk about stuff all day from mining -- from staking in the industry in the Northwest Territories, to go online, to the regulatory process, to better geoscience information available, to junior mining companies, to socio-economic agreements, and how do we deal with Aboriginal governments moving forward, to land claims. As I said, our regulatory process, and how can we make that better moving forward, once we get things straightened out with the federal government. Those are a number of topics that we discussed, and a lot of input from stakeholders, as I said, and I've got a lot of great information on how we're going to try to move this file forward.

As we all know, mining tradeshows are numerous. Not just the Roundup, but the Geoscience Forum, and coming soon, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Has the Minister's department done a cost-benefit analysis of attending tradeshows, and if he has, can he share the results?

The one thing that I can say is Roundup this year was definitely -- it was cheaper than previous Roundups that we have attended. As far as doing a cost-benefit analysis of our attendance versus bringing mining to the Northwest Territories, this is a long process for juniors to become a viable mine in the Northwest Territories. One in 1,000 actually becomes a mine, if you look at the stats in the industry. We will be working towards trying to bring those things forward. It will be when we see some development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I take it, then, that there is no cost-benefit analysis of this, but rather a feeling that this is a good thing. Another possible use for this money which would be a good thing is to increase the Mining Incentive Program. That actually puts money directly into the pockets of the miners. Is there any thought to doing a cost-benefit analysis, especially since there are more tradeshows coming up, of putting the money into the Mining Incentive Program rather than into a junket? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Mining Incentive Program is one of the things we heard around the table, as I said, along with a number of other things that I've previously mentioned. I will not commit to doing a cost-benefit analysis, just because I know going down there, meeting with industry, meeting with the Mining Advisory Board, the Chamber of Mines, the input that we get from a number of stakeholders, be it industry, like I said, or governments, or financial institutions, moving this file forward is to get down there and be in front of these stakeholders that want to look in the Northwest Territories, give them a clear picture of what we're doing, how we're trying to move things to make it more -- unlock our potential for these mines to open up in the Northwest Territories, and I believe it's good value for money with what we spent. The conversations were very valuable to myself and my colleagues on this side of the House, and I believe that Mr. Vanthuyne who was also there participating with us, this is the biggest part of our industry in the Northwest Territories. It's 20 per cent of our GDP. We've got to continue to work with these players, so how do we bring the next wave of mines to the NWT so we can all prosper. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke on the health transformation initiatives that became an effort that the Department of Health have worked on for some time. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. For those listening at home, can the Minister describe some of the real changes that will be brought about in small communities by the move to a single health authority. For example, how will a visit to the health centre be different for the average patient? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a very complex question because every case and every situation that comes into a health centre will be different dependent on the different conditions that a citizen or a resident may be presenting with. In the Member's statement, I think he actually answered a number of the questions for himself, I mean, things that are reality. We know this is going to improve healthcare in the Northwest Territories.

We are working on a strategic plan, or rather, the authority, with input from the regional wellness councils, is developing a strategic plan that is going to set the direction for the provision of services. That includes a voice from the people in the small communities on how to tailor programs to meet the needs of individuals.

Also, Mr. Speaker, as has been said over and over again, the patient experience will improve as a result of removing some of the barriers that they experience today. Information will be able to be shared within a circle of care between authorities where it has been really difficult to do that in the past. We have had individuals who have had multiple needles when now they will be able to get away with one, which personally, I prefer, and I think everybody who is getting a needle would prefer.

Mr. Speaker, the authority, the single authority, has developed the framework to conduct an investigation of their implementation, which will be done in 2018, and they will have another report outlining the outcomes that they are seeing, which will be done in 2019. This is going to help us inform future direction and continue to evolve as we go on. But the system is about better healthcare, better future, better results for residents across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

The Minister seemed to suggest that I have answered my own questions. The question verges on the complexities of the healthcare system and also highlights the differences. In my understanding, the initiative towards the health transformation is to alleviate those differences and try to come to some commonality in terms of bringing better service to communities. This change was brought about by the recently established Territorial Health Authority. What is the protocol for constituents who want to raise a concern with the healthcare service they have received?

I think this is an incredibly important question. In order to improve healthcare in the Northwest Territories, it is going to take all of us working together. One of the challenges we have had in the past, where we had multiple authorities often competing for resources, is we had a difficulty with quality control. We would hire a quality control individual at an authority, and if that person left, then we had no quality control in that authority. As a single authority, we have more individuals involved in quality control who can provide backfill when a certain individual or an individual leaves a region.

What I would like the Member to do, as all Members, I would like the Member and myself, everybody in this House, to encourage our residents when they are having challenges in the healthcare system to engage the quality control system, share their stories so that they can be investigated and we can learn from them.

We can make real meaningful improvements in the health and social service system here. I believe I have shared those quality control numbers with my colleagues. If I haven't, I will commit to doing so again, so that we can work together to encourage our residents to engage quality control to help make real improvements moving forward.

The final question is: what is the role of the regional wellness councils? The Minister seems to highlight that, you know, more the system to really try to improve the system, but at the same time ensuring that residents have access to good quality healthcare. We also have regional wellness councils. What is the role of the leadership council in such a situation?

The regional wellness councils are regional representatives who are responsible for helping bring the voice of the people to the authority. First, to help make programs specific within individual regions, but also through the chair of the individual regional wellness councils to bring that voice to the territorial authority to make sure that every region, every community's voice is heard at a territorial level.

I have had an opportunity to meet many if not all of the members of the regional wellness councils. We have unfortunately had a little bit of turnover already. We are looking to go find a couple of members where a couple have resigned. They have all been trained. I have encouraged them through the territorial council to talk to their residents, to get the feedback, to be a voice, to be somebody people can go to and talk to, in addition to the quality assurance staff, to make sure that the voices are heard.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it seems very clear that the Minister is committed to improving the services of the healthcare system, the wellbeing of the residents of the NWT. He seems to emphasize that we are going to have a better product.

However, my final question is: if we are really focusing on the idea of quality control, has that position been filled for the regions to ensure that there is such a unit or a position out there that they will ensure that residents with healthcare concerns can raise it with this position or this unit to ensure that, indeed, we have good quality healthcare systems? Mahsi.