Mr. Speaker, Hay River was waiting a long time to get a Minister so we could get the kind of perks that Fort Smith and Inuvik have been getting.

---Laughter

So we are all waiting for that Minister to step up and make that happen. Related, like I mentioned, to get to the health centre you have to walk down a road with no sidewalks, not even any shoulders. When can we expect some other improvements in terms of sidewalks and controlled rail crossings at the health centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Minister of Public Works and of Transportation, I have to look out for the good of all Northerners, not just Hay River. So much for the perks. The town of Hay River is working closely with CN Rail to obtain a safe crossing at the railway crossing, as well. Plus, the Town of Hay River has also had in their minutes that they are looking after their sidewalk along that side of the highway to get to this particular crosswalk. We will continue to work with all stakeholders, them, the health authority, the RCMP -- the NTCL, no -- the community, on how we're going to proceed with this and get it going. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has indicated, the Territorial Health Authority has gone live. All the Regional Wellness Councils are in place. We've conducted training throughout the Northwest Territories with different members of the Regional Wellness Councils, including the chairs who formed the Territorial Authority. There have been meetings at the Territorial Authority level with the board, meetings with the Regional Wellness Councils at the local level, as well as training, like I said, across the Northwest Territories.

It's up and running. We're getting good feedback from the Regional Wellness Council members and we're looking to continue to enhance services across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I welcome that response from the Minister. Since they're established, Mr. Speaker, what are the changes that were given to date since the operation took effect?

Maybe I can get the Member to ask the question again. The changes that have taken place across the Northwest Territories with respect to the provision of health and social services in a single authority are pretty massive. There's job reorganization, design structure, there have been a lot of staffing actions to move people into the single authority. We've done our best to make sure that, you know, we haven't lost any of our front line provisions, but we are seeking, and continue to seek, input from our Regional Wellness Councils on local design.

There's a significant amount that's happened, and I don’t think an hour is enough time to outline all the things that are happening at the authority, so is there something specific the Member is looking for?

With respect to local design, as mentioned, will the Minister commit to working with the Sahtu, the stakeholders, and the Regional Wellness Council, the administration, and leadership in general to hold a strategic conference on updating the strategic plan that was done on 2014 and expired in 2016?

The Territorial Board, the Health Board, which consists or chairs from all the Regional Wellness Councils, has actually been working on the development of a strategic plan for the Health and Social Services system. From that strategic plan all the Regional Wellness Councils would be expected to then in turn develop some plans at a local or regional level for the delivery of services and the required tailoring and adjustments made at a regional level.

That work is part of the work that they're doing. It's part of the mandate of the authority. I think the Member is asking for a larger, broader meeting to take place with other stakeholders. It's certainly something that interests me, but I would certainly need to get more detail on what the Member is thinking of, and I would suggest that maybe the Member and I should sit down with maybe some stakeholders from the Sahtu to figure out exactly what we're talking about here so we can determine if this is something that we can actually move forward with.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I welcome that schedule consultation dialogue back and forth so we can have a clear understanding what the move-forward procedures are and the targets. My final question to the Minister is: can the Minister's office provide us with the schedule so we can have that prior to scheduling a meeting with his office, and that's between my office and his, to discuss next-step procedures? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to have my staff talk to the Member's staff in order to coordinate a date where we can have this conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about the social work program being cut from Aurora College. I'd like to ask the Minister of Education what is the plan moving forward with the social work program at Aurora College, if there is any plan? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As it was mentioned, the social work program itself will continue to run for two more academic years. We aren’t taking any new students in, but all the students who are currently in the program will continue to get the support that they need to work on completing that diploma program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My concern today obviously was with the students in the social work access program. So I wonder if the Minister could talk to Aurora College about what would be the implications, I suppose, of extending the program for one year so that people who have entered in at the access level at this time also have an opportunity to complete their social work diploma?

The access program itself helps prepare students to get into a social work program or into other programs that Aurora College provides, or even other institutions. The students who are currently affected in the current access program who did show an interest into social work, the Aurora College staff have met with them and have come up with other plans, other career paths that they might want to take, and my understanding is that all five students have worked with the college to develop a new career path that they're looking at.

I'm very glad to hear that. That was my next question, if somebody was going to assist these individuals moving into another program of their choice. So can the Minister advise me of what programs are these students targeted for?

That's the Personal Support Worker program. I believe one is going into the Office Administration program and also applying at a southern institution. I'm not sure what the program is, but we do have another student who is applying to a southern institution.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not expecting the Minister maybe to have these answers at his fingertips, but I was wondering if the Minister could advise me how many of the students had graduated from the social work program in recent years? I'm looking for what's happened and how people had progressed into health and social services, and I'm just trying to get a feel for whether or not there's a level of success with the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

From my side of things, we have graduated 12 social workers in the diploma program over the last three years, so on average it's about four students a year, and I think we can get that information in terms of how many have gone into employment within the Department of Health and Social Services and provide that with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.