Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're not encouraging but members of the GNWT's public service are members of the same pension plan. I believe all three territories are in the same situation. As such, when this change was made by the federal government, it impacts our employees as well. And we were given the opportunity to give employees this choice if they want to take it at no cost to us. It would be under the federal budgeting process. So it's really at this point that we're not taking this choice or opportunity away, that if people -- if this is passed finally at the federal level, that GNWT employees who wish to take this opportunity will have it available to them. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that clarification about workforce reductions. So does this mean that right now GNWT employees can go ahead and take advantage of the early retirement incentive program if they wish to retire early? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And no, not yet. So at this point in time we were still waiting for final approval from the federal government. I believe that the Department of Finance for the GNWT does have a follow-up scheduled in the next week or so to see where things are at on the federal system but also to get the details as to precisely how this would roll out and when. There's two different groups that would be potentially eligible, depending upon age and length of service. And so those exact details, again, we would need to get that from the federal government to then roll that out to our employees. And, you know, again, Mr. Speaker, at this point it's not a finalized program from them so it's certainly not a finalized program from us, but just wanted our staff to be aware they were going to get these letters from the federal government. We want them to know that we'll work with the federal government and more -- so it's really a more-to-come situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I guess my final question is, when can employees expect to know for sure, and how are they going to be informed? Are they going to wait to hear from the federal government directly? Are they going to hear through Bear Net? I hope it might be more than that because many might miss this important information. So when and how can employees expect to know for sure about this opportunity? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the federal system is at its decision point now which then means we have the opportunity to get that final confirmation and detail over here. It would still need to go through some review on our end just to make sure that we are aware of, you know, exactly for whom it would apply to. And because they are part of that pension plan, there will be letters that go out directly to all pension benefit members from the federal government. Just as we communicated initially when those letters went out the first time, there will be communications that go out from the GNWT as well. I take -- and I appreciate the point. It'll go to Bear Net, but we'll also make sure that -- some folks don't access Bear Net or don't have access and so we'll take that under consideration and make sure that everyone has access to information from our government as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that level of detail; however, I do know that I do get monthly updates when I have my meeting with the NTHSSA. And since December, I believe we've used two and that is to ensure that the Inuvik obstetrics stays open. However, we are more and more relying on just continuing with our long-term casuals and our terms that do come back. A lot of the recruitment and retention that's been done has -- although it's not filling all our vacancies, they are filling job shares which are more permanent in the communities and that's -- you know, we're trying to change the way we're staffing. That's how we got the nurse practitioners into the Dehcho, is just trying to look at different ways to permanently staff in different ways. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the numbers would be good because my next question is how does -- how much do we spend on contracts and agency workers compared to what we spend on recruiting permanent healthcare workers? Because that -- if there's a deficiency there and it's significant, then we need to ask ourselves the question are we really investing in a northern workforce. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that, I will have to take back as I don't have that information, and I'd have to work with my colleague, Minister of Finance, to be able to come up with that type of information. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to that information and so do healthcare workers.

Mr. Speaker, how is this government balancing permanent staff and contract agency workers in northern health care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated that the reliance on agency nurses is declining in the Northwest Territories as we are strengthening the way that we are recruiting and the type of -- you know, we're recruiting half-time positions and job shares and we're looking at different ways to meet the needs of the workforce today. So that is one of the most important pieces is that we're not solely reliant on filling a lot of the needs. There's a lot of misunderstanding because there are casual term nurses that do come into the system but they are paid under the collective agreement the same as all the other nurses that are on the floor. And those are to ensure that we -- you know, we have enough staff to be able to take care of the residents when they're in our hospitals and our facilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Mr. Clerk.

Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you for your both kindness and generosity, Mr. Speaker. Good Speaker. Greatest Speaker. Best Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I got some information with respect to the speech and language pathologists back, and I am curious if the Minister can talk about the challenges of how many young people time out of speech and language support given the fact that there's an age limit and then they get kicked to ECE for responses. Because the challenge, of course, is always to help young people early when it comes to speech and language pathology therapy. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when there's people on the waitlist, whether they're children, adults, you know, from birth to end of life, they are triaged as to the need. And so the waitlists, they will remain on there and be seen based on availability and where they are triaged on the list. So they don't get kicked off the list. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister speak to the fact that Northerners, they're triaged out of the system based on the government servicing Nunavut clients first? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that Nunavut has a contract with the Northwest Territories to be able to provide those services; however, I do believe that we prioritize, you know, all of the -- everyone that's coming into the system, but I'd have to take that back and get more detail on how that would work. But I do believe that if we weren't able to meet the needs, you know -- like, I don't have that level of detail here in the House. Thank you.

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