Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have not gone through forced growth or business planning for the next fiscal year, so it's kind of difficult for me to say. Yes, I cannot say for sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We have already done that. I have already said that. We reached out to the airline based on the fact that the Member had brought this to our attention. We were told by the airline that it has been a very difficult winter. There have been a lot of weather issues. They have had a couple of mechanical issues. They need to make sure that their planes are flying safely. If there are changes in one community, it may affect their ability to get to the communities that are originally scheduled, so they change their structures accordingly. We have registered our concern. They are aware, but they have...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when that occurred, that review occurred, I was sitting beside where the MLA for Yellowknife North is currently sitting, and it was my opinion of the day that one of the problems was, when that proposal was brought forward, it was brought forward as a solution without doing the upfront work. They didn't engage potentially affected stakeholders. They didn't go out and talk and have those discussions throughout the Northwest Territories, seeking ideas, input on how to resolve the problem. A couple of problems: it's very expensive, is one problem. The other...

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of things happening, both at a national level as well as the territorial level. There are a lot of good documents out there that we are looking to find ways to share, distribute, and make people aware of. At the same time, we have started developing a campaign within the Department of Health and Social Services focused primarily on the impacts of cannabis on the developing brain.

We have developed a proposal and submitted it to the federal government asking for $2 million over the next five years to do this work and get that information out. Obviously...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we will provide some level of detail, recognizing that it hasn't all been finalized at this point. We are over a year out of this type of thing even starting. We are doing initial work. We are figuring those types of things out. I am happy to provide the Member with additional information as I become aware. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is no program called "catastrophic drug coverage." This is certainly an area that is in need of some discussion, and this, I think, can form part of our conversation during our supplementary health programs review.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At a territorial-global level, no, I will not. We have a lot of people doing a lot of work, and I feel like this would be something that would take up time. However, when issues are raised, as they have been in the Deh Cho, yes, absolutely, we will contact the provider to try to figure out what is happening. We want to make sure that we are providing quality services to our residents. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, we have relationships with airlines. We have standing offer agreements. They have scheduled flights. We book based on scheduled flights in good faith...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is no question that there is pressure on the extended health benefit and supplementary health benefit programs that we provide here in the Northwest Territories, and there is the gap that has been identified in the low-income families that do not have insurance. Currently, what we are doing with the first part of this work is we are out doing cross-jurisdictional analysis and research to see what other jurisdictions are doing and how they're working to cover some of those groups that may or may not be covered, trying to get a good sense of what's out...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that is specifically what the deputy minister was talking to in response to, I believe it was, Ms. Green's questions. We have hosted a round table working with our Indigenous partners and the federal government to address those types of concerns, make sure that everybody is on the same page and working together and that the issues of the clients are being brought forward to the ultimate funder, recognizing that we are a delivery agent in this one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.