Michael Miltenberger

The first year has been a planning year and we’ve been working with industry and we are looking at changes to the procedures. For example, in Human Resources, where we want to be able to go south to job fairs or recruiting, that we’re going to empower the folks that go down there to look at the resumes and do interviews. If the people meet the criteria, then a conditional job offer can be made pending the checking of references. That’s as opposed to the current process where we have to come back and months go by and people wander away. That’s one thing.

We are expecting and the Minister of ECE...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, February 9, 2015, I will move that Bill 44, An Act to Amend the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s still in planning, but it will be at least two positions.

I’ll get that detailed information for the Member. Thank you.

I would just like to clarify for the record for my young colleague for Yellowknife Centre, that a point of fact is when supplementary appropriations are voted on, we do see them, we see them visible all around us. They help us provide services to adults down south for health. They help fund projects. They help move money forward in the budget, so we can do the Tuk-Inuvik highway. Every cent that we put into supplementary appropriations and approve in this House is visible and brings added value to the Northwest Territories.

With regard to the Members, if there’s a wish, we can pull together an...

When they are asked to be involved or they are involved, they work with the host department or agency and they look at being efficient, not necessarily to save money but to make sure that they are designed in such a way to put the money they do have to the best, most efficient and effective use, and that’s one of the functions they provide. They provide a coordinating function; they provide a function where they can link in and get the people they may need to help work with the departments, to do the detailed planning in terms of the effectiveness of the design, the horizontal and vertical...

Everything that’s funded by GNWT money, I believe, has to be considered. We talked about leaving no stone unturned. That doesn’t matter if it’s the Power Corp, the health boards, divisional boards, housing folks. It doesn’t matter. We have to make sure that we manage all the money. This body votes on every penny that runs those 5,000 employees, all our boards, agencies and our own government departments, so we have to look at them all. As the Member asked, are all options on the table, and the answer is, once again, yes.

That issue was flagged in the budget address as well. We do a significant number of things already. We are putting some money in this budget to try to extend the staffing complements in Yellowknife, Simpson and, I believe, Fort Smith for starters. But we want to and we already do a number of things for seniors.

I appreciate the Member’s concern and we are intending on looking at those longer term changes, as well, that we need to deal with as this bubble moves through their lifecycle.

The actuarial tables may have the average person living to 89 for men, for example. The folks, if you do it...

Yes, if we’re going to do this in an even-handed, comprehensive way, all things will be on the table. We need to look at all solutions and how creative we can be. Things that the Member has touched on would be some of those factors to be considered. We can leave no stone unturned as we look at fiscal sustainability and, at the same time, honouring our commitment to protect the programs and services.

We have to come to a hard decision about limits to growth, how big a civil service can we afford. Even though we’ve had restraint, every budget, including this one, has some positions in it. Every...

Yes, we do track that, and we have some ideas and we get some feedback. A lot of it is the issue of family; some of it is the cost of living; some of it is retirement.

In regard to the Member’s earlier comment of an interest of committee, we’d be happy to get all and any suggestions that committee members have in terms of their suggestions, and if there are other suggestions in terms of involvement in the work we’re doing, we’d be happy to look at what they would propose as well.