R.J. Simpson

Yes, I do, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the unit did review that. I would say the unit is probably now the foremost expert on reviews of the healthcare system. They've read every -- everything that's ever been written in terms of any sort of analysis or reviews they could get their hands on. And so that is all being considered. Everything out there is being considered in these reports. And so I can assure the Member that, yes, if something was written about the healthcare system, the team has looked at it, and they are considering how it fits into these priority areas and what efficiencies they can find...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I will start, then we can go to the deputy minister. But what the Member is talking about is what we're aiming for. In the past, there have been efforts to integrate services across government. They've all failed. And so the approach we're taking is to have focused efforts in one area, which was recommended by a third party. There was an extensive report, and the recommendation was to start on a defined area and learn lessons from there that then we could expand across government. And in the end, the ultimate place we land might be a Service NWT, a department that...

Thank you. So I feel it's been going well. I mean, she'd have to ask the other partners. But I know if I call the grand chief, he'll pick up the phone and vice versa. And I think that's a good start is that we have that trust. You know, we've got to start seeing results and delivering results, and so I don't take that for granted that the trust will just always be there. If I am saying we're going to move ahead and we're not moving ahead, then obviously that's an issue. But I feel as though we have a good relationship, so yes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we actually had meetings scheduled yesterday but the chair was weathered in, so he could not make it down; however, we were able to meet with director Gillis as well as a senior advisor, and there was -- it was almost like speed dating, where I met with him first and then they met with every other Minister throughout the day. So it was -- they were great meetings. There was a lot of excitement generated, and I can tell that it's going to be a strong and productive relationship. Thank you.

Thank you. So right now the analysis is being -- is focused on the programs that have been prioritized and the areas that have been prioritized, as the Member mentioned those seven areas earlier. But that said, through the work it's evident that there are areas of duplication. There's NTHSSA, there's the Department of Health and Social Services, there's the Department of Infrastructure and finance, and among all of those, there's overlap for capital, for privacy, for IT, and there's areas that we know that we can look at to address some of that overlap. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Sure, I won't mention the departments and what they do, but I mean when it comes to municipal infrastructure, it's the municipality's responsibility. And, you know, in Hay River we were on boiled water advisory for quite a while because we needed a new water treatment centre. I know that Inuvik has -- their utilidor needs replacing. So every community is facing this, and the GNWT is also facing this. We talked about electronic health records today. A new system for that is, you know, north of a $100 million. Like the replacement that we need to do of our infrastructure across the territory is...

Thank you. So the new federal government and Dehcho have set the goal and the GNWT have agreed to set a goal of June of this year for an agreement-in-principle. And so an agreement-in-principle is not a final agreement, and it might not even include all of the chapters that would be in a final agreement. Some of those can be, you know, left until the future. But an agreement-in-principle is a pretty substantive document that shows a lot of the work that has been done and sort of has been settled. And so the goal is to get that done by June. And, again, there might be some chapters that are...

Sorry, Madam Chair. If I can get some clarification, there was some double negatives. I lost the thread on that one. Sorry, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And there is, it's in a future activity, the Indigenous and intergovernmental relations activity, which is about three or four in the future here. But yeah, I can assure the Member that there is. Thank you.