Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a multi-year project that goes over many fiscal years. We had money last year to begin the process and do some planning and get some work done so that we would be prepared to break ground as early as possible. Like I said, the organization has asked us to stand down temporarily, which we have on their request. We are prepared to move forward when they are ready. Hopefully, we will break ground sooner than later, but it will likely be breaking ground probably in the next fiscal year due to these delays. We still have some planning work that we have to do with them...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there has been a lot of talk about replacing the health centre in Fort Simpson and that work is still under way. We still know that we need to replace that health centre in that community, but there are some safety issues with respect to Nurse Call and their ability to have the technology around them in case there happens to be an incident.

Although we are going to replace the facility for safety issues, we do have to put those nursing call structures in place within the long-term care facility.

Yes, Mr. Chair. I will put something together. It is not just for Hay River. I will do it for Inuvik, Beau-Del, and I will do it for Simpson, as well. We have made better progress in Hay River and Inuvik. We have made almost no progress in the Deh Cho at this point. Yes, I will get something together. Maybe there is an opportunity to sit down with committee and have a conversation.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I am dealing with a bit of a stomach flu right now, so I didn't actually get that question. Can the Member please repeat it?

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I was talking total budget, not annual budget. I apologize. I misunderstood.

Hay River is further ahead, and our intention is to break ground on there before Inuvik. We still have some ground work and other things to do in Inuvik. At the same time, we have been approached by community organizations in Inuvik, the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in, who want to have the same discussions and possibly create a partnership like Avens in Inuvik as well. We want to make sure we are doing our due diligence on that one as well. It is a great opportunity for the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in to run a...

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 361-18(3): Proposed Hay River Fish Plant." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have been approached by a community group and other organizations to partner a project similar to Avens, as an example, here in Yellowknife, and creating a seniors' community in Hay River that isn't just long-term care, but is independent living and possibly some subsidized housing and some supported living.

It is a really interesting concept we want to explore to see if there is good value for money on here, but at the same time, we don't want this to get put off the rails. We need to get these long-term care beds built, so we will do our due diligence, and if that...

I think the Member and all Members remember, when we brought forward the audit of the 2015-2016 files, the audit, too, was broke. We ended up having a real problem making some determinations. From that audit, we knew there was something that wasn’t exactly right, but we didn’t understand the magnitude. I directed the department to fix the problem so that we could do a comprehensive audit so we could understand where we were. That audit was completed in May 2017, at which point the department expressed to me and demonstrated the challenges we were facing.

At that time, I immediately directed...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member is correct. When he and I had an opportunity to attend the opening of the Fort Resolution Health and Social Services Centre there, we did talk about that building and how incredible it was, and we both talked about the fact that the building in Lutselk'e was intended to be, not a replacement, but a renovation.

I am not as big a fan of the renovations that we have done over the years, and I think Lutselk'e deserves a facility that is state of the art, so I agreed with the Member. I also got a letter from the community saying that they wanted to see a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Health and Social Services portfolio is a significantly large portfolio, and there are many different competing priorities and demands. The Member is assuming that I haven’t made child and family services a priority. This is an area that has been important to me since before I was an MLA.

When I became the Minister of Health and Social Services, I was deeply disturbed to find out that no progress, zero, had been made on the implementation of the recommendations put forward by the standing committee. I made it a priority to move on all of those...