I agree that there is a need to look at how services and the home and community care programs are being delivered, including the hours of service. When the home and community care review was conducted, one of the purposes of the review was to look at the consistency in how services are delivered across the Northwest Territories, as well as if there are any gaps in the program and services. There are recommendations from the review that do speak to exploring the feasibility of expanding hours of services. We will be working with the health and social services authorities to determine how we can move this recommendation forward, including which communities will be our priority based on current needs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a timely question in that we have just completed a home and community care review for the Northwest Territories. We received the full final report on September 16^th, which includes 22 recommendations. These recommendations are currently being prioritized by the staff; however, I can tell you that we also included research from other jurisdictions. The information in the review supports that, by investing in home and community care, there is potential to divert some costs related to long-term care. This is a priority for the department and, drawing from the experience in other jurisdictions, we are continuing to assess what this may mean for the Northwest Territories.

I look forward to providing more details to the Member as we conclude this work. We will have the review and our responses to the recommendations available for the MLAs for the next session, and we look forward to the opportunity to provide a briefing to the interested Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to share with the Members of this Legislative Assembly my reflections as a new Minister of Health and Social Services.

I have spent my first few weeks as Minister receiving a series of comprehensive briefings from both the Department of Health and Social Services and the health and social services authorities. I have had the opportunity to meet with the Leadership Council, senior management, and staff.

One of my first thoughts after starting these briefings was how passionate and dedicated the staff and leadership are in the health and social services system. Everyone who I spoke to was there because they truly wanted to make a difference for the residents of the Northwest Territories. There is a deep-rooted, heartfelt belief across the system that we all play an important role in improving the lives of clients and patients. I am encouraged and inspired by having seen this and believe, if we harness this passion and dedication, we can make significant progress in tackling the health and social services issues our territory faces today.

As Members newly elected to this Legislative Assembly, we have all heard from our constituents about the health and social issues that our families and communities are experiencing. Many of us know first-hand what these issues look like and can draw from our own lived experiences. As Minister, I have been briefed on many of these issues and I am learning more about the challenges and about the work currently being done to address these issues. I am seeing the strengths and opportunities that we have to make progress on these issues over the life of this Assembly together.

As we work with Members to finalize the mandate in the coming weeks, we will be confirming how the government will address the Assembly's priorities and supporting all our people, including children, elders, and those struggling with mental health and addictions. These are also priorities for the department and I am confident they will share our commitment to deliver positive outcomes for all NWT residents.

Mr. Speaker, seeing what I have of the people working within the health and social services system, and learning what I have about the work currently being done and the opportunities and strengths we have available, I do believe that our health and social services system is well positioned to make progress on our shared priorities. I look forward to providing strong leadership over the next four years, reaching across the floor to work with my fellow Members colleagues, and with our Indigenous and community partners, on the important health and social services challenges facing our territory today, to make the Northwest Territories a better place to live for all residents in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following five documents: the "Annual Report of the Director of Child and Family Services 2018-2019," and pursuant to Section 29(2)(b) of the Financial Administration Act, the "Annual Report 2018-2019 - Hay River Health and Social Services Authority," the "Tlicho Community Services Agency - Health and Social Services Annual Report 2018-2019," the "Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority Annual Report 2018-2019," and "2018-2019 Annual Report - Northwest Territories Health and Social Services System." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will work with the Member to ensure I get him the dates and the release of the information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just in reference back to the actual Auditor General's report, the Department has accepted the recommendations. The plan was publicized and released in August of 2019. To date, approximately 33 percent of the action plan, action items in the quality improvement plan, have been completed.

The Auditor General of Canada is not currently conducting a third audit of the child and family services system. If the Auditor General called for another review of the child and family services system, the Department would fully engage and integrate the findings as part of our continuous improvement framework.

I want to assure the Member that we take the review of quality seriously. That is why we have our own separate quality review and internal audit process. This quality review process is ongoing, and we have started our internal audits. We anticipate that the internal audits will be done by the spring of 2020.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just advised by my Premier that the Cabinet committee for the Premier will come up with a Cabinet committee for child and families right after the Christmas break.

Our department is working hard with the airline companies to ensure, on our side of the department, that we give sufficient notice so that the airline tickets can be booked in time. We don't want to see our medical patients being bumped off the airline, so we are doing the best that we can.