Jane Groenewegen

Agreed, thank you. We'll do that right after a short break.

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Thank you, Mr. Roland. Next on the list for general comments, I have Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, May 14, 2007, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly strongly urges the Government of the Northwest Territories to implement criminal records checks at least every year for all public service employees who have contact with children, youth and other vulnerable persons; and further that the government direct all its boards and agencies to adopt policies for criminal records checks of all volunteers who have contact with...

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Next for general comments I have Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you. I’m still not getting the sense that there’s any dedicated staff in Health and Social Services or in HR that are specifically devoted to recruitment efforts; I have not seen any advertising. So I’ll ask again are there any positions that are specifically dedicated to recruitment of nurses and do we have an advertising campaign? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, there has been a certain degree of success with some of those programs that the Minister has referred to, but he has confirmed that we still do have a nursing shortage in the Northwest Territories. I noticed when I was flying to Edmonton the other day, the Up Here magazine has an article called “Northern Outpost Nurses - Choose Your Adventure,” and there’s quite an extensive ad here trying to recruit nurses to join a venture healthcare program to go to northern outposts. I’m sure that it’s similar to the agency nurses that we hire. How aggressive...

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, May 6th to 13th is International Nurses Week and at this time I would like to acknowledge nurses week and recognize the work and dedication of nurses around the world, across the country and here at home in our communities in the Northwest Territories. It seems that with each passing year, there is more and more pressure put our health care system and in the face of shortages in our different, varying medical professionals that are being experienced across the country, sometimes in the absence of a doctor, it is nurses that will take on additional...

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Braden.