Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have one question. Maybe I will seek some clarification first. We should have a midwifery program in Fort Smith, because that has been up and running forever, and one in Hay River, and then some midwifery here.

In Fort Smith, half of the babies born in Fort Smith don't come to Yellowknife, approximately. Are we expecting the same type of numbers? Has the department done an evaluation? Fifty kids are born in Fort Smith every year. I am assuming it is, like, 60 in Hay River. I am not sure, but I am thinking it is around those numbers.

I am wondering if those are the types of numbers that the department is looking at, about half the kids in Hay River being born in Hay River, as opposed to all in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you. We are looking at a hub-and-spoke model here to roll out a territorial program, which is consistent with some of the recommendations that were provided. It doesn't mean that births will be facilitated in every community, but where the numbers permit, we are certainly willing to explore growth in those areas. Over time, that may change, so we need to be flexible.

We do know that, in order for a midwife to remain current in her competency, for her licensing purposes, he or she does have to facilitate a certain number of births, but that is not the only job. Right? For a midwife, it is a lot of the prenatal and the postnatal that really adds some of the profound value to healthy families, healthy, strong mothers, and healthy babies.

With this model, we will be working with people in the communities, different professionals in the communities, to help enhance those services across the territory. This is the first step in the rolling out of this new territorial approach, and we will need to continue to evaluate, and that includes looking at numbers of births, in order to figure out how to keep resourcing this properly moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Of course, my, it's not even a concern, actually, it's a wish that the young ladies from Fort Resolution who are having babies in the future, that they would end up here. They end up here in a boarding home for three weeks prior to the birth of a child. They have to fly here. It is quite a ways off because they are part of, I guess, if there is such a thing as Yellowknife Health and Social Services at this point, but I know that Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution are both under Yellowknife. If we had midwifery services in Hay River, fully functional in taking care of Hay River people, what would it take to just have the people from Fort Resolution have their babies in Hay River, as opposed to coming to Yellowknife? It is very easy. They can get there a couple of days before they have their child, because they will be in vehicles, not in planes.

I am wondering if the department has had any thoughts about this. We have a nice, big health centre in Hay River, and midwifery services now, and doctors. I am wondering if there are any thoughts of the kids from Fort Resolution being born in Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is great news that we are working in that direction. I think that, of course, there are other communities nearby, like the Minister said, that may require more nurses or more doctors, even in Hay River, to accommodate the convenience for the people that live in communities near Hay River as opposed to near Yellowknife. I think that, if the department has that in mind and they are moving in that direction, I am very supportive. That is all I have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that the Member did a really great job of explaining the hub-and-spoke model that we are trying to apply in many of the services that we provide.

Like I said before, without moving to a single authority, we wouldn't have had this opportunity. We are still in the early days of contemplating some of these opportunities that have presented themselves by having this new model, and we are excited by some of these opportunities. This is clearly one of them.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Any further questions? Good. Committee, if there are no further questions, I will call the page. Nursing inpatient services, operations expenditures, summary, 2019-2020, main estimates, $35,900,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Which brings us to Health and Social Services, supplementary health programs, operations expenditure summary, 2019-2020 Main Estimates, $32,078,000, from pages 190 to 192. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm eligible for extended health benefits. Thank you.

---Laughter

Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question on the harmonization of the Metis health benefits and the non-insured health benefits. I'd like to ask the Minister if he could just talk about that a bit, just to ensure that everybody is getting all the benefits they should be getting. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Abernethy.

I'm not 100 percent sure what the Member is asking. Are you asking about the comparability of the Metis health benefits compared to the non-insured health benefits that are offered by the federal government? I'll note that the Member is nodding his head in what appears to be the affirmative, so I will do my best to answer the question. The Metis health benefit mirrors exactly the non-insured health benefits program as far as formulary and coverage levels. I don't know what else the Member wants me to say, other than it is an exact mirror of that so that all the individuals covered get the same.

I will note, Mr. Chair, that the supplementary health benefits that we provide are not a payer of first resort, they are payer of last resort, so we would expect that employees who have health benefits, Metis employees who have health benefits, would use their employer benefits before they access the Metis health benefits. In some cases, that may result in what appears to be a greater degree of support or coverage for individuals, but we would encourage Indigenous people to use their employer's insurance, as well, because sometimes employer insurances are better than NIHB. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is the increase the number of people or enhancement to the benefit? On the Metis health benefits, the increase of $400,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are based on demand. Not an increase in the level of coverage, but in the number of people accessing, or possibly the complexity of some of the cases. Many different clinical things could drive those costs. We know the costs are up, and we want to make sure we have the dollars to cover them, so the increase is for that.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.