Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I missed that part of the question, obviously. The evaluation framework is going to be developed and finalized this fiscal year, and then data will flow over time. The evaluation framework will be done this fiscal year, so we should have some initial data. With this type of analysis, we need a couple of years of data to really be able to make informed decisions and opinions about what’s happening. I can provide the more immediate stuff to Members, up to date, from what we have.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the encouragement actually came from the Premier who asked the departments to do everything they could to try to attain last year’s numbers. Ultimately, the hires are the responsibilities of the individual departments. If we do get resumes of individuals with particular skill sets, we will forward to the department if they match the type of work that the department is doing. We’re trying to get the information out there, let the departments know who’s out there, know who’s working, who wants to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories. I do have...

Thank you. For clarity, that’s the Professional Development Initiative Fund. That fund is available to help professionals in the Northwest Territories to do non-required training, training that is beneficial but not required for their jobs to help them be more well-rounded and offer them some skills sets that aren’t part of the normal job.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we do have the dollar figures that were expended in previous years for medical travel and medevacs. I’m sure I can get the department to break it down on what the cost per region was for medevacs. Would that suffice?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe there’s a mistaken belief out there that we provide Metis health benefits that are different than the NIHB, the Non-Insured Health Benefits. In fact, the Metis health benefits we provide here in the Northwest Territories are an exact mirror of NIHB in every way, it just happens to be funded by us rather than funded by the federal government. Moving forward, we anticipate, given the Daniels ruling, that the federal government will simply include Metis people under NIHB. The benefits that they receive should be identical, unless there is a decision by...

Not yet.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. After you turned the page, I clearly forget everything I was discussing on the previous page… No. I’m just kidding. I totally remember the question. The government, as a result of the Minister’s Forum on Addictions, we actually came forward with funding to support ontheland programs. We provide that money to the different Aboriginal governments, regional governments here, in the Northwest Territories. We recognize that, although we have some clinical expertise, when it comes to ontheland programming, those programs should really be delivered by the people in the regions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. National Public Service Week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of the public service employees across Canada. Here in the Northwest Territories we have an engaged and highly motivated public service that provides quality programs and services for our residents. Our employees’ commitment to service and dedication to their communities are an important part of what makes the GNWT a great place to work and what makes the NWT a great place to live. It’s no secret that these are challenging economic times, Mr. Speaker. In the face of these...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we got permission from the last government to do a one-time transfer from the midwifery program in the Beaufort Delta to use those dollars to do our portion of the Organ and Tissue Donation Registry in Alberta, so it’s one time.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, with respect to some of our legal documents, such as our birth certificate, although we had an obligation under the Official Languages Act, our documents only recognize the Roman alphabet in the production of those documents. There was an official languages review done by the official languages commissioner that indicated that it would be appropriate, given that we have an Official Languages Act here, in the Northwest Territories, that our legal documents could include all of the official languages and utilize the appropriate fonts. I have asked the department to move...