Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the comments from the Minister, but if we do not continue to provide support for the industry, I do not think it will continue to grow. I do want to move on, if I could. I think it is 204, the active positions page. Is that something I can do at this point, Mr. Chair? Yes.

As I understand it, there are two positions that are going to be lost in the department as a result of this budget. The only two positions seem to be in economic diversification and business support. Can the Minister explain to me how this supports our mandate of economic diversification...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So, I guess I will have to ask that question when we come to the Department of Finance departmental budget. I am just looking at a couple of other things here, chargebacks and contract services. There are some changes here between 201617 and 201718, and I am wondering if the Minister and his staff can explain the reduction in the chargebacks, and then there is a fairly significant increase in contract services? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I appreciate the clarification from the departmental staff. Does this represent good value for money? Are we going to just rely on SEED to do this, or are we going to invest some of our own money in this as well? More directly, Mr. Chair, can the Minister answer that? Thank you.

Merci, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document. It's from The Hill Times dated February the 1, 2017. It is titled "Divide and Conquer: How the feds split the provinces in health talks." They have outflanked their provincial counterparts entirely, says one source close to the talks. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at a figure of $100,000, but if the Minister wants to bump it up to $160,000, I would be very happy with that. Is he proposing an increase? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I do appreciate the response from the Minister, but as I understand it the original offer was for 5.2 per cent increase annually in healthcare, in the agreement that was under discussion. So why did we sign off on 3 per cent when the original ask was 5.2 and the offer that was on the table was 3.5?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have some questions on page 202 on grants and contributions. I see the film industry rebate program; last year, the main estimates were $206,000. Again, the same was totally used in revised estimates. Why is it dropping down to $100,000 this year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Health before the clock runs out. Cabinet seems to be able to find resources for its preferred projects, whether it's NTCL, Mactung, or roads. We're still waiting to hear, though, about improving our housing stock and other social infrastructure needs. Can the Minister of Health comment on how we're going to fund our growing social infrastructure needs, including the shortfall in long-term care, or shall we just tell our seniors to hit the many roads we keep on building? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that is all the questions I have for corporate management. I just am scrolling through. Once again, I want to go on record in saying that I find it difficult to understand how the department is going to continue with a very ambitious legislative agenda while it is cutting its policy legislation and communications budget at the same time. We have already seen delays, and I am afraid we are going to see more delays from this department, and I think evidence, the request for qualifications for the Mineral Resources Act, we may not see that until 2018 now.

Once again, I...

Merci, monsieur le President. In his reply to the Budget Address, the Health Minister referred to the growing numbers facing us in meeting the demand for seniors' long-term care. We know that by 2026, he said, we have to put in 258 long-term care beds. That's $139,000 in operational costs per bed, for a total of more than $35 million annually by 2026 to meet the projected demand.

The numbers are taken from the 2015 Northwest Territories Long-Term Care Program Review report. The report provided a detailed analysis of the anticipated demand for longterm care, options for programs, and approaches...