Kevin O'Reilly

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions about the future of renewable energy in the North Slave region and I’ll ask them of the Minister of Public Works and Services. I’d like to start with the North Slave Resiliency Study. I cannot see in the study where climate change models may have been used to predict water levels. Analysis seems to have been based on the past 30 years of data. Can the Minister confirm that the North Slave Resiliency Study did not consider climate change and then no predictions were made of future water levels? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ve noticed that, on this page, the caribou strategy work, there was $627,000 expended back in 2014-15 but nothing last year and nothing in the budget for this year. Is there some other place in the budget where work related to caribou is found? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Sorry. One more. I just didn’t know where to ask this question in other sections. We are supposed to be talking about water, but I understand the department is also developing some air quality regulations. Just wondering if the Minister can provide a bit of a status report of where that work is at. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. First, I want to start off by reassuring the Minister that in no way was I ever questioning his integrity earlier in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The fact that we may agree to disagree or question things is no basis for questioning somebody's integrity. In any event, I firmly support the work of this department, but I did want to ask a question about the waste reduction line on page 91. Last year, we had $100,000 in the budget, and this year there's none. I think it may be because there was some extra funding providing there to allow for some program...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I know that when the business plan came forward to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, I'm pretty sure I asked about this position, and I was told by the department that they have other folks that would pick up the work that this position would normally carry out, and I was a bit skeptical about that. I've known the people that have been in that position probably for most of the time I've been in Yellowknife, which is close to 30 years, or that have been involved particularly in that field. They do very important work. I'm not sure if the MLA for...

In the area of midwifery services, Nunavut appears to be ahead of the Northwest Territories in meeting birthing service needs. Nunavut staffs midwives in the regional centres of Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, and Iqaluit, which seems to be at least partly based on cost savings. Would the Minister agree that having an NWT midwifery program focused on regional centres, including Yellowknife, would likely result in some cost savings, or will he research the Nunavut model to investigate this?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Minister of Health is feeling a little bit under the weather today, so I've got some easy questions that I hope will make him feel a lot better. Mr. Speaker, my questions are about midwifery. The 2012 midwifery report recommended creation of midwifery positions in regional centres, including Yellowknife. Whether a regional or territorial model is pursued, positions should be staffed in Yellowknife. Will the Minister commit to bring forward funds in the 2017-18 business plan to staff positions for a midwifery program based in Yellowknife? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Today, I’d like to talk about the long saga of midwifery services in the Northwest Territories, based upon the latest updates provided by the Minister of Health and Social Services. In 2012, the government responded to advocacy for community-based midwifery services with a midwifery review and expansion analysis report. That report recommended options for expansion of midwifery services under community, regional, and territorial models. In July 2015, the Minister said that the next goal was to move forward with a territorial model based out of Yellowknife in 2015...

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I thank the department for their response. That Environmental Liabilities Fund… I'm sorry; which department is that with? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I look forward to that very much. Thanks.