Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's easy to second-guess spending by a big department by Health and Social Services. And if the Member has ideas, then certainly we're open to hearing from them.
NTHSSA is now one entity. So it's a whole system approach to understanding what the cost drivers are and what to do about them. So examples of initiatives underway now are
- Improvements to inventory controls and purchasing;
- Process improvements to improve billing and collection of accounts receivable for chargeable services;
- Improvements to processes used for managing facilities and fleet;
- Processes to ensure NTHSSA recovers all costs for services it performs for other departments and jurisdictions;
- Improvements to budgeting processes; and,
- Establishment of a quality improvement framework.
So I want to convey that this is an issue that we are taking very seriously, and the sustainability office is working diligently to find ways to control spending. Thank you.