Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Speaker, yes, we will look at the impacts of exploration that’s happening in the Sahtu on Wrigley when we examine the need for nursing in Wrigley. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One is an air carrier and one is for personnel services to support the air ambulance flights and so on. For a more detailed reason on why there are two separate contracts, I’d like to ask the deputy minister to provide a response.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If centralizing means we are bringing people into the centre, then we are not centralizing. I can get the deputy minister to provide details and timelines. The plan is to have the services standard with all the authorities using the same system. I will have the deputy do a detailed response to that.

Madam Chair, I will just get the deputy to go through this information for the Member.

I don’t want to be throwing out dates guessing at these things. All I can say is that bariatric surgery is on the agenda for the team of individuals or the committee that has the NWT Medical Association and the department on it looking at the system now. I’m hoping that it doesn’t take years to come out with something. However long it does take, it would be once we’ve decided that this would be an insured service in the system, then we come back through the regular business planning process. However long it takes for us to add this and get this approved through the business planning process...

There is no limit in the time that we can provide funding to an organization, and then we look at any new organization in this area on a case-by-case basis.

No, I don’t know the stats for the number of babies born with jaundice, but we would be easily able to get that information from the places where the babies are born.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will commit to re-examining the possibility of having nursing services in Wrigley. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The existing medevac contract has been extended for us to do a thorough and proper review. The RFP will hopefully be out in April and we’re expecting to have a new contract in place by September 30, 2014.

We’re not anticipating that change. We were going to change the standards. Maybe we could have further clarification. We weren’t thinking of changing the act or regulations but putting in territorial standards and other standards around education and so on. Perhaps I could get the deputy minister to provide some detail on what we consider or think the cost would be around that change.