Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the fees and payments program management budget were re-profiled to support increased compensation and benefits, so you'll see a slight increase in that area. There was also a decrease to the budget which reflects the historical expenditures once again what we're budgeted for compared to what we spent. We were moving to have these more in line with what we have spent traditionally or historically.

Thank you. I've already committed to providing sort of an update of where we are, which ones are completed, which ones aren't. Is the Member looking for something different than that or is that what the Member is looking for?

Moving to a single authority should actually help us move this forward in a quicker manner because we will be able to work as a system as opposed to a fragmented group of authorities. With respect to planning for the system-wide EMR, it began years ago and implementation is well under way. Four authorities are currently using the EMR, representing a significant portion of the NWT populations; that's Yellowknife, Hay River, and Fort Smith, and system-wide resources have already been identified to help move that forward. We are hoping in 2016-17 to bring the Tulita, Sahtu, Deh Cho, and Beaufort...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, if a P1 candidate applies for the job and is the most qualified and isn't offered the job, it would have to be based on something, either procedural error or the person did not pass a component of the competition. The person would have the appeal rights if they failed the competition or failed the interview. I am not sure what the Member is getting at. We want to be fair. We want to be open. We want to be transparent. We are encouraging people to be ready. We are happy to help them be ready. When it comes to a competition, every individual still has to meet the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the elimination of that position is part of the reduction exercise. The position was vacant and has been vacant for some time.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, all departments either have them or are developing them, and I can't tell you the exact number of the variance, which ones are done and which ones are still in process. I will commit to getting that information and sharing it with the committee.

As I indicated, at this time we don't actually have any recommendations from the committee. The membership on that steering committee does include the NWT Pharmacy Association, and we already collaborate with pharmacists across the territories on a number of initiatives. They are a critical and a key component to making this a reality here in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to consult and work in collaboration with the pharmacies across the Northwest Territories to ensure that a program, when it is put in place, is both effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of both...

I'm going to go to Michelle on this one for the detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the budget in the area was reduced to reflect historical expenditures, what we actually spend in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

No, we have not. Technically, they are outside the public service. They have their own collective agreement; they have their own terms and conditions of employment. I'm happy to reach out to Hay River. I'll talk to the public administrator to see how they're proceeding with summer student hires. If they want access to our database, I'm certainly happy to allow them access to our database.