Glen Abernethy

Obviously we have a difference of opinion. I feel that it’s important to give some people a heads up before we drop this act in front of them. I feel that it’s important that the department or, rather, the Minister before he places an act in front of us is sure that everybody’s voice has been heard.

Over the 56 versions in the 17 years of developing this act I wonder if the Minister could tell me how much has been spent in consulting each of the two communities, the Aboriginal and treaty rights holders and those without these rights. Could the Minister give me that information?

I’d like it if we could share that information with all my colleagues.

Just one last thing, just a reminder: yes, it may be delivered by HR, but the people who are making the decisions on the budget are sitting at that table. The Minister is responsible for this budget, she’s the one who’s making decisions on the budget, HR is delivering a program that this Department of Health and Social Services is responsible for and makes the final signing off on all budget lines. We can involve HR, they are administering the program, but ultimately no matter how you look at it, the Minister of health is...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Lee.

Page 8-35, Health and Social Services. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are in follow-up to my Member’s statement and are related to the consultation process currently, or just finished, with the Wildlife Act.

Public consultations are an important tool to the GNWT. They allow us to go out and meet with our constituents and residents of the Northwest Territories and hear what they have to say and allow them input into our important acts and legislational programs. Could the Minister tell me -- and he started to go down this road a little bit -- how he intends to provide some comfort to those groups that feel that their voice was...

All these questions started when it came up about some of the grad placements and our true need, our true area of focus here, is we need to get nurses into community health centres. Nobody could deny that. We’ve got continual turnover of locums, we’ve got continual turnover of nurses in there and we need to find solutions and solutions to train Northerners for northern jobs.

The Community Health Nurse Development Program is a great program that puts indigenous Aboriginal and non-Aboriginals in community health centres with the training and the skill they need to be competent and professional. I...

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Next on my list is Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Minister Lee. Mr. Bromley, your time is up. I’ll go to the next person on the list, but before we do that I’ll just remind my colleagues in committee to keep our questions to the nature of the page that we’re on. The last bunch of questions that were asked were probably more appropriate for 8-17, which is health, human resources. So we’re on community health programs on page 8-29 and I’ll go to the next on my list, which is Mr. Ramsay.

We will move along to page 8-33, which is also an information item, Health and Social Services, details of funding allocated to health and social services authorities.