Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, we approve the budget a year at a time. We are considering the budget for 2011-12. The next year’s consideration will go through the regular business plan process this May through September, I would think. Mr. Speaker, by then I am sure that we would have the information.

We need to look at the needs for nurse practitioners and all the other HR issues that the Department of Health and Social Services consider. As I committed already, my officials and the Department of ECE are going to continue to work on this issue, as they came to our attention in the last couple of weeks. Let me...

Mr. Chairman, I will see if that is available and whether or not it can be made available. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a lot of programs and funding that the department provides to communities, whether it be through authorities, NGOs, Aboriginal governments. Sometimes we get funding from the federal government. Some programs involve just working with the youth on suicide prevention. We do have programs that work with elders and youth. I would be happy to present the Member with all of the details that he requires. I don’t have it right in front of me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, that is the section where through this program we block fund the authorities and the Member asked what we were doing to improve the administration. I, as a Minister, work through Joint Leadership Council. We have regular meetings, we talk about all manner of things right from the budgetary issues, policy issues, working as a system, Foundation for Change action plan or whatever else is on the go. We seek advice from each other. So that’s how we work together at my level. The deputy minister is in constant touch every day with the administration, on delivery of services and so are the...

Mr. Speaker, there were two or three questions pertaining to the details of the employees being paid to attend such a program. I need to get back to the Member as to whether they were required to do that before, and get the information that the Member needs. I will undertake to get back to the Member on that.

I do agree with the Member that I did have information that that program is not available this time, the introductory one, because of lack of enrolment. I will get back to the Member on the two or three questions that he asked. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, it was started before I went into office. It was completed, I believe, around that time, three years ago. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I could say not what we are going to do, but what we are actually doing right now and what we have been doing for the last three years we will continue to do with the support of all the Members on the other side, we as an Assembly have made a full commitment to addressing the family violence issue. We have increased funding under the Shelter Stablilzation Fund. We have also expanded our Family Violence Program funding to communities where there are no shelters, so we have enhanced funding for those communities with shelters and we made funding available for communities without...

I committed earlier in the day to get back to the Member on that and I just want to say that, for the record, when our Member said earlier that a community was without a social worker for three years or something like that, I think it’s important to state for the record that where there is a vacancy, the system would have social workers going in and covering those. It’s not necessarily about coverage of the work. I just want to say that I appreciate that for many communities they would like to see the actual body of the social worker there working in the community, getting to know the...

Mr. Speaker, there are about four things that the Member said he had heard. I can’t confirm or deny. I don’t know. That is just the information he has, Mr. Speaker. What I am saying is we are committed to hiring and expanding the Nurse Practitioner Program. We are committing to Aurora College $511,000 that we have in the past. My understanding is that IAP program did not have enrolment interest and that is the reason why Aurora College is not delivering that program today. Thank you.

I hear what the Member is saying. I will undertake to look to see what we have for capital items for Colville Lake, but that’s not part of this budget we are dealing with here, so I do not have that information readily available. Thank you.