Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand it has been out for RFP, but I am not sure when it is closed or if they have been successful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member indicated, we operate on this side of the House in a perennial minority situation, and that point is brought home to us time and time again. It’s something I’m very, very cognitive of, and we’re all very sensitive to the need to work in a consensus style with all the MLAs, both those from Yellowknife and those from outside Yellowknife, but as a collective for the common good. We intend to do that. The business plan will lay out the detail and we’re always interested and, once again, sensitive in trying to accommodate issues raised in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as an MLA from one of the smaller communities, I am very, very sensitive to the issue of government resources in communities and how they are spread out across the North, including the capital and all of the other small communities, and how important those resources are, especially in the smaller communities. Have we learned anything through the last session? Yes, we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to point out and reiterate a point I made yesterday, in that the Government of the Northwest Territories has also made the signal very clearly that they are interested and willing to look at decentralizing programs when they make sense and when it is the appropriate thing to do. In this case, this is one of those cases. Will the people be there? Yes, they will be. We have done it in the past. We are running a program in Fort Smith as well, delivering a high quality of care for children. It may take some work, but Bosco Homes has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to having it for the Member before the end of this session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have had discussions on this. I can assure the Member that there is no, as far as I am aware of it, backdoor sole sourcing. The information that I had, that I have shared with him, is this is to go to RFP. I saw information today that indicated that, but I will go back when we finish session and I will just double check that. I will let the Member know. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the service that will be provided will be on par with what is currently here. If there are services that are required that aren’t accessible as they are possibly in Yellowknife five minutes away, they’ll be accessible in Hay River 35 or 40 minutes away by plane. We have folks that travel, we have other territorial facilities across the North that provide service to all the people of the Northwest Territories and this program will be no different, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the value of the jobs that these people do is very high. The work they do is very important, dealing with children, and we are attempting to be as sensitive as possible. But if I can hearken back to the previous session when there were discussions of closures in other communities, it is an issue that causes, understandably, distress and concern in the community among those who are directly affected and we’re trying to be very sensitive. We met with the contractor and we’ve talked with the department. We’re working out a plan to be as mindful as possible as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, May 27, 2005, I will move that Bill 7, Personal Directives Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s our intention to build a lot of this detail with regard to this particular program into the upcoming business planning process, which is already in the developmental stage. We will be coming forward, given the time frame of 18 months, to do that. So there will be an opportunity for the Members to look at the detail both on the capital side and on the program side. But I want to assure the Member and this House that very clearly, in my opinion as Minister and as a Minister who has experience in running child welfare programs of this nature, that this...