Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am proud of this government. I am proud of the work that everybody in this building does. I think we all do an incredible amount of work in order to improve the lives and well-being of people in our House. I got to tell you; I take great offence to the Member's insults in suggesting that we don't care. I think that the Member's comments are deeply disturbing, deeply frustrating, and I think, frankly, she is insulting every Member of this House, not just myself, but the Members on that side and the Members on that side and, frankly, Mr. Chair, all of the hard-working...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that the Member did a really great job of explaining the hub-and-spoke model that we are trying to apply in many of the services that we provide.

Like I said before, without moving to a single authority, we wouldn't have had this opportunity. We are still in the early days of contemplating some of these opportunities that have presented themselves by having this new model, and we are excited by some of these opportunities. This is clearly one of them.

$790,000 in the upcoming fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I think it is important to recognize because, if you just added one number to the next, it wouldn't add up, but there have been some sunsets in that area as well. There was a grant in kind to Rockhill Apartments that would have fallen into this line that has been sunsetted. There is a home and community care, mental health and addictions service bilateral funding agreement, $300,000. That is one that is coming back, right? So that will come back, and then there is $542,000 for the Mental Health Act implementation, and that also comes back. Then there is some money that was allocated...

As I indicated, one of the primary things that we did to help with our wait times is we actually created a position in the Beaufort-Delta that will be providing audiology services to both the Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu. Initially, those services were provided out of Yellowknife by the two different audiologist positions that we had, and they are done by way of travel clinics, five-day travel clinics per year.

Those travel clinics are no longer required, because they will be handled by the audiologist up in the Beaufort-Delta, and those five day clinics that the Yellowknife office was...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We take this seriously. This is a priority. This is something that we have been working on for some time. I mean it isn't without its investment. We have invested significant new dollars in the day shelter sobering centre to help individuals who are struggling, to make sure that they have a safe place. We have also added programming there that never existed before, which is available to help people find a path to wellness and take advantage of some of the programs and services that we have in place. The 2018-2019 budget for mental health and addictions was $17 million...

Thank you. We are looking at a hub-and-spoke model here to roll out a territorial program, which is consistent with some of the recommendations that were provided. It doesn't mean that births will be facilitated in every community, but where the numbers permit, we are certainly willing to explore growth in those areas. Over time, that may change, so we need to be flexible.

We do know that, in order for a midwife to remain current in her competency, for her licensing purposes, he or she does have to facilitate a certain number of births, but that is not the only job. Right? For a midwife, it is...

No, Mr. Chair. This isn't the appropriate section. That section would be nursing inpatient services.

Mr. Chair, on page 176, there is an increase of about $1.73 million, which is going to the combined day shelter/sobering centre. That is a new ask. That is new money to help provide the range of services that we are providing in the sobering centre.

The money that the Member is referring to on the other page, there is $1 million for the anti-poverty, and then $150,000. $75,000 goes to Inuvik; $75,000 goes towards the day shelter here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 32, Naturopathic Profession Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the third time, and Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.