Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't confirm those numbers at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister -- is the Minister aware of how long the Northwest Territories has been absent of support services for rheumatoid arthritis given the fact that she had sat on the social development committee last term and is a nurse so she should be familiar with the concept of the program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did sit on the social development, and I am a past nurse, but that doesn't mean that I am aware of the operations when I was a Regular Member. As the Minister, I know that there are ongoing discussions on how to, you know, work with all of our specialty areas and trying to obtain specialists to come to the Northwest Territories. So this will mitigate having patients having to travel, and this work is ongoing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is it's been well over four or five years, which would have predated the Minister being elected to this House, but that said the important factor here is that regardless whether it's one year or four years is what initiative is the department of health doing to reestablish the services in the Northwest Territories. Given the fact that we're aware that the government plans to cut $150 million from the bottom line of programs and potential services, we need to know what they're doing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are vacancies in a lot of our specialty areas, and there's work ongoing. There is many ways that the department is reaching out, working with southern practitioners to be able to come to the Northwest Territories. There are a lot of challenges, like we said, all over Canada and, you know, when we think of all of the different areas where we are not having specialists come here, the bottom line is that part is -- you know, even though we know that it is hard for the patients to have to travel, you know, and -- you know, but if the service is -- if we can't get the service here then we're not -- we're not preventing them from accessing those services. But the work is ongoing, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate it very much. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I talked about the transparency, or I should say lack thereof, of the waiting lists for people trying to get a doctor, and it's from the department's information they provided that there's close to 2,000 people on that list. So my question specifically to the Minister of Health and Social Services is so she's aware of the number, what is she doing about the number to make it transparent for the public? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you I was offended and anybody else probably reading -- who reads transcripts, the tone of the Minister saying it's only a problem in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, maybe we should just double check before I proceed on questions -- to the next set of questions, is the Minister also a Minister for health in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am the Minister for all of the Northwest Territories. That is why, Mr. Speaker, you know, when we have people bringing up the issues that, you know, that -- that's what I'm speaking to. People in the communities don't have a doctor. People in the regional centres don't have a family doctor. We have doctors that travel into the communities. They're not their family doctor. The care that they're getting, you know, everybody what we're doing is we're trying to ensure that the Northwest Territories has access to the right service that they need, whether they're in Yellowknife, whether they're in a regional centre, and whether they're in the small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'll first agree that it shouldn't be -- I wish it wasn't a problem in the communities as well. But is it -- is the fact that this is a major issue in Yellowknife, it's not a problem for the Minister? That's the question.

Mr. Speaker, there is a health care crisis throughout the territory, throughout Canada. You know, I think the -- what I'm trying to say here is every community in this territory, we are struggling with shortages. Whether it's Yellowknife, the regional centres, and it's not just doctors, it's nurses, it's -- you know, it's all of our specialists. This is across Canada. So I don't have the answer that the Member is looking for at this time, and what I'm just saying is that there is an issue and, you know, the department is working hard to recruit doctors, nurses, specialists. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, it sort of sounded like she was a territorial Minister on the last piece, which I'll accept. That said, I was worried where she was going with that.

Mr. Speaker, to my original question, what is the Minister doing to bring transparency to the waiting list to get a doctor? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to get back to the Member on that.

Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's related to my Member's statement on dentists within the Mackenzie Delta region. The high volume of patients from the Beaufort Delta region having to travel to Yellowknife to see the dentist in one or two days. Will the Minister or is the Minister looking at contracting a dental team to visit the Beaufort Delta region periodically until a permanent solution can be found? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the RFP for dental services to the communities was put out. There was no submissions. And so we are continuing to work with the facility out of Inuvik as we can, and I can be -- I can let the Member know that on March 12th -- or 13th to March 19th, Fort McPherson will be getting the dental for his community. Unfortunately, Aklavik and Tsiigehtchic, there are pending equipment repairs. So those communities are still pending for dentists' visits.

Okay, I'd like to thank the Minister for that response. I think I should have clarified my question a little further.

In terms of trying to get all the patients or the referrals seen by the dentist, you know, having a team go travel to Inuvik where the surrounding communities around the Beaufort Delta can go into the communities, that's what I was referring to if the Minister has any indication to get somebody to Inuvik? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if I just -- if I may, dental treatment services are not insured services provided by health and social services. This is not something that we receive federal transfers on. What we do is we are funded through non-insured health benefits to provide the travel to private dental clinics which the clinic in Inuvik is a private dental clinic. Unfortunately, nobody has bid on any of those RFPs to travel. There are many reasons, and we are working with Indigenous Service Canada to rectify a lot of those reasons. You know, we've had discussions with Indigenous governments on all of the issues. Dental services in the Northwest Territories, the core, or the skeleton as I might put it, is NIHB. Like, that is who funds all of that travel for private clinics who are -- that's who provides services, dental services, throughout Canada. This is not just in the Northwest Territories. So I just want to make sure that the public and the Members know that, you know, we are working. My staff, you know, we're currently working on a contract on a new renewed contract for NIHB with ISC, Indigenous Service Canada, and that there's ongoing discussions especially related to dental. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on a different vein, I'd like to ask questions to the Minister in charge of the PUB.

A constituent of mine drew a very important issue recently, and he talked about the fact that he had bought an electric vehicle but the infrastructure costs by Northland Utilities is being dumped on him if he wishes the proper upgrades so he could plug in his electric truck. Mr. Speaker, this is a territorial issue. If we want people to move to electric vehicles, why are we dumping tens of thousands of dollars on that individual?

My question specifically to the Minister responsible for the PUB is what is he prepared to do for policy direction to the PUB to ensure that that individual -- tens of thousands of dollars cost doesn't fall on people that could be throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Public Utility Board.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware the problem however I am not aware of the concerns about the policy changes. So I'll have to get back to the Member's question. Thank you.