Much appreciated. No further questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Kieron Testart
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MLA for Range Lake
Won his last election, in 2023, with 55% of the vote.
Statements in the House
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
And I'm eternally grateful, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, does the Minister anticipate the total costs for medical travel to decrease after September 1st when the extended health benefits are changed? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
So, again, I don't want to jump too far ahead, and I note the time, but I'm just -- the difference between the benefit provided to the public service and the benefit provided to the public is significant. Oh, I see I have more time now. So what -- if you'll indulge me, like what is the -- I can only imagine there's more members of the general public accessing medical travel than public servants. So why do we have a difference in the numbers? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, like, I know it's a coming page but with the medical travel increases in the health department, it's $13,616,000. So this is a -- inclusive of both of those numbers, is this driven by that 450 percent in dental, like the majority of this funding? And before I turn it over to the Minister, I just want to point out that I think the clock started late for me. So I might be owed a few minutes, but I'm happy to go on the list again if I run out of time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
My colleague from Boot Lake just said we could build a very nice dental clinic for $8 million. So there's clearly a problem here. How -- it's not this Minister's job to solve it but when you're assessing these kind of applications in terms of an overall fiscal sustainability, does the department have a perspective that we need to solve this at a fundamental level rather than just throw more money into the medical travel program? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Thank you. So is this -- and is this meeting trends? Like, trends over the last couple fiscal years, or is this kind of an unanticipated increase -- yes, unanticipated usage rate that has resulted in the need for a supplementary appropriation? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And this is related to fiscal year 2023-2024? I'm seeing nodding of heads.
So the next question is on medical travel benefits provided to the public service. It's $8 million. Can we get some additional explanation on this increase?
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the $18 million related to public debt, what is the reason for the increase in expenditure? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
Okay, now I'm confused. So the Travel support program is $6 million, then. Okay, I see a nodding of heads. Yeah, nothing further. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters February 27th, 2024
So just -- so the total expenditure's going to be just over $12 million, is that accurate? Thank you.