Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department which is responsible for procurement of shared services, which came into effect in 2014, was always looking at ways to streamline the process, to increase participation of local and northern businesses in the procurement and fair and open process of government goods in the Northwest Territories. I am always willing to sit down with the Member and discuss any ideas he has. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, the Minister consults with me; that is one person. I am wondering if he will consult with everyone in the Northwest Territories through a public engagement process, and then create a report that can come back to this House and be assessed by the standing committee and the government on its results and lead to comprehensive procurement reform in the Northwest Territories. Will the Minister commit to do that?

No, I will not commit to do a comprehensive review across the Northwest Territories. As I have told the Member before in this House, I have been part of both sides of this equation, and I believe that the process in place is a fair and equitable one for all businesses in the Northwest Territories. Yes, maybe we have to tweak a few things to make everything better. It does not matter if it is from health care to education to procurement, but I am willing to sit down and have those conversations. However at this point, I am not willing to do a territorial-wide review.

Does the Minister agree that a 15 month wait for a procurement application is unacceptable, and that that issue needs to be dealt with right away?

This is the first I've heard of this situation. I want to sit down with the Member after session today and get the details on it. I believe 15 months definitely is too long to hear back on an issue.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that commitment. I'll be happy to sit down with him and share my constituent's experience with our procurement system. Finally, I know that the Department of Procurement Services through the Department of Infrastructure is undertaking some vendor workshops. Is there any opportunity for public engagement in the procurement process through those workshops, or is this merely an effort to tell vendors how to do business with government? Are we actually listening to them or are we just telling them they're doing it wrong? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, that's not how this works. We're always open to all types of feedback, good or bad, and we'll try to improve the system as we move forward.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the budget process, the Department of Health and Social Services received new funding to support enhanced homecare and youth in crisis. On Thursday, we received an e-mail from the Minister of Health and Social Services identifying a proposed plan to allocate this funding. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services please provide further information on the plan to us here today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have already talked a little bit about the comprehensive review of homecare services that are being planned for 2017-2018, and this is going to help us make informed decisions in the next round of business planning on how we're going to invest to support aging in place for seniors and persons with disabilities. However, Mr. Speaker, we do know that there are some pockets of documented unmet demands for homecare services in many communities through the Northwest Territories. Recognizing this, we truly appreciate the $2.5 million allocation that was issued during the budgeting process. We're intending to use it to make some incremental investments to meet the demands for patient care that we know exists in several of the communities and our regions that have been previously limited by resource shortfalls.

With the new 2017-2018 homecare funding, I'm pleased to announce that we'll be strengthening homecare services in our three largest communities and introducing homecare services in six communities where there are currently none offered. We're looking at putting one additional nurse in Inuvik, as well as two additional home support workers. We're looking at putting three additional home support workers here in Yellowknife and we're looking at putting half-time home support workers in Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Sambaa K'e, Nahanni Butte, Kakisa, and we're looking at putting in an additional one-and-a-half home support workers in Hay River, with 0.5 of that being utilized to support enterprise where there are currently no home support services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is great news and I must publicly thank the Minister for sharing this information here today. I was very concerned during the budget process, and now I'm happier to hear this good news. I have to recognize the hard work that the department and Minister have done to this date. Can the Minister advise if this good news e-mail can be shared with the public?

Yes, please share the e-mail with everybody you want to share. In fact, all the MLAs I would encourage to share the information. Mr. Speaker, this is a good news story and it shows us working together as an Assembly and that we recognize the need to invest in staff and home support positions to meet the needs of our residents across the Northwest Territories. Please share the information with everybody that the Member would like to.

I'd like to thank the Minister for allowing us to share this good information again out to the public. Mr. Speaker, with this plan in place, can the Minister explain the next steps to implement this plan and provide a potential timeline, like job descriptions and stuff like that, that have to be done?

I am a little reluctant to speculate on a timeline. There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done. The position job descriptions need to be written. They need to be evaluated. They need to be incorporated into the complement of positions that are out there. Then we do have to go out and staff those positions and that can take a bit of time. Once we do have the positions filled it will likely require some training for individuals to make sure that they're providing the high-quality service that we want to make available to residents throughout the Northwest Territories. I can say that I have talked to the territorial authority and I have talked to the department. They are going to move forward as quickly as they can to get this upfront work done and get these positions filled and on the ground as quickly as possible. I have asked that we utilize the regional recruitment program where appropriate so that, if there are people who meet the qualifications today, we can work to help train some local people for local work.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister, how was the community of Aklavik advised when the open water and the ice road was first discovered and the weight restriction was lowered? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When this came up on a quick and short notice, the local superintendent out of the Inuvik region would have notified the mayor of Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What plans were put in place to finish bringing in supplies that were supposed to come in on the ice road?

I don't know which plans would have been put into place once the roads was closed. That would be up to the local people. It's unfortunate the road closed in a quickened manner. That happened because of safety reasons, but now with the new purchase of the barge company, maybe we can use them.

The ice road conditions are no different than they were last year. Just this year, the department seemed to get a little too -- I don't know, they just got a little carried away this year, but how does a department incorporate traditional knowledge into ice road construction and other infrastructure planning?