Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories has a strategy for growth. We know that to develop our economy, create growth for our communities, and enhance our society, we need to attract new people to make their homes here in our great territory. We need more skilled professionals and tradespeople who want to set down roots, build their homes and businesses, and create opportunity and wealth in the Northwest Territories, and as we know, the more we build our own population, the better the balance of federal transfer payments to support our programs, services, infrastructure, and overall capacity as a territory. In the mandate that we adopted earlier this session, we agreed to “increase the number of immigrants working in the NWT and increase investment by immigrants by implementing an immigration strategy that prioritizes streamlining application processes, increasing awareness of immigration programs, and consolidating our administrative support.” We need a made-in-the-North immigration policy. We need to be able to attract the specific skills and talents that will build our Northern economy in the 21st century. The North has a long history of immigration. Newcomers made essential contributions to the fur, mining, and transportation industry. More recently, immigrants have supported our small business sector and secondary diamond industry. Every year, we celebrate as a group of permanent residents join us as Canadian citizens. We need to ensure that immigrants feel like they can live here. We need to identify specific actions to fulfil our mandate in the area of immigration, and measure our success. We need to ensure that the process for establishing a business is clear and that we’re connecting skilled individuals to new and existing opportunities. We need to identify barriers for new Canadians and do the hard work required to remove those barriers. We need to work with our federal counterparts to clear the hurdles to residency status, health care, and other important services. An immigration strategy is an exciting opportunity for the Northwest Territories, both for immigrants themselves and the communities where they will make their new homes. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for his answer. Lastly, advocacy groups like NWT Citizens for Midwifery are made up of moms, women with knowledge and experience in this area. Can the Minister tell us what opportunities there will be for these groups to be involved in the important initiative going forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are only four years from the last midwifery report. Can the Minister clarify what outcomes are expected in the current consultation efforts that will be different than the outcomes that came in the 2012 Midwifery Options Report?

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Can the Minister advise the House: Are there plans to include a midwifery unit in the new Stanton Hospital project?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement earlier, the government has an initiative to move towards a territorial midwifery strategy. Two midwifery consultants have been working since last fall in program development and stakeholder consultation. Can the Minister update us on the current status of the NWT midwifery initiative, including the provision of midwifery services in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a cornerstone of our healthcare system is how we look after pregnancy and childbirth. The government's program Right from the Start focuses on measures that support a healthy start to life and positive outcomes for mothers and babies. One of the main action areas of that program is the expansion of midwifery services. However, action on this matter has seemingly slowed down significantly. Women whose prenatal care is led by a midwife tend to have few complications in pregnancy and childbirth and almost equally important, they are able to stay closer to home during this significant time.

According to the 2011 census, there were 690 births in the Northwest Territories that year. Over half these births were to families outside the capital, but the majority of these mothers had to travel, at significant cost to government, to larger centres to give birth, leaving fathers, siblings, grandparents and other critical community supports. The social and medical benefits of midwifery are well established, but what is perhaps less well known is the fact that, where midwifery services are established, the cost to the health system actually goes down. Recent studies done in Alberta identify that a course of care led by a midwife can cost up to $1,200 less than the same care provided by a doctor. Reducing the cost of the quality of health care is surely an idea that the government should get behind.

At this time, I would also like to recognize the considerable efforts of the NWT Citizens for Midwifery. They are an advocacy group consisting of women and men who are mobilizing support for a territorial midwifery program that includes the capital city. I want to thank them for continuing to show their support for the expansion of midwifery in the North. It was great to see many folks had taken part in the march from the post office to the Ledge over the lunch hour today in support of midwifery. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that informally, since the beginning of the 18th Assembly, many of us have talked about the idea of freezing MLA wages. I'm happy that at a point in time the Minister of Finance made a recommendation to the Board of Management to give this further and more official consideration. I am certainly supportive. I reiterate the fellow Member's comments that this is not going to a measure that is going to make a bunch of big savings for us, but that it's an opportunity to show that we are committed to leadership by example in trying fiscal times, so I will be supportive. Thank you.

hanks again to the Minister. It is good to hear that we have the right building blocks to build certainty because that kind of encompasses my next question. Lastly, the statement from the Chamber of Mines says that almost one third of mining companies feel “low to no confidence” that their exploration applications will be granted. How will the GNWT rebuild certainty and encourage industry to maintain and increase their investments in the territory?

Thank you to the Minister for his answer. According to the release, on the ability for exploration companies to understand the rules and how they are applied, the NWT emerged with the poorest rating. Could the Minister please explain for this House what action the GNWT is taking to make process and procedures clearer and more transparent for applicants?