Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I replied to the last year's budget, I started with a quote. This year I will simply say, the race is not always to the swift.

Mr. Speaker, that is the moral of Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. For many years, if not decades, the GNWT has been criticized for being too slow and not doing enough. It's a criticism rooted in a truth, which is that this government does tend to move slowly. This is why this criticism is continually repeated. I think there is nuance within that truth, Mr. Speaker. First, however, I want to talk about what I have...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So one thing in that list of items from fiscal restraint that caught my ear just now was a reduction in translator training. Could the Minister please explain why that was a choice that was made? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, just correct me if my understanding is incorrect, but it's my understanding that the city of Yellowknife is really the only public library in the Northwest Territories -- has the only public library in the Northwest Territories that is not funded by this line item. So every other public library is funded in this line item, is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm misunderstanding or misstating my question. The item on page 218 is listed as an HSS expenditure but then on page 219, it looks like it's shifting to the health authorities, so the -- to my mind, this $8.8 million is moving from the department to the authorities to deliver, or am I misunderstanding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, I appreciate that. It's important to know where we're starting so we can know where we're going.

When does the Minister feel that she might have that baseline a little bit more on firm ground? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my questions to start are about medical travel benefits. I am looking here at the line item on page 218 of the mains, and I can see that the actuals in 2023-2024 were just below $30 million, and then the revised for 2024-2025 slightly over $24 million, and now we're estimating for 2025-2026 going ahead at $8.8 million. So my question is if this is another one of those items that we have a base amount and then we adjust as necessary, or are we restricting benefits? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you. If the Minister has maybe high level data around the percentage of students that are accessing this program, that would be great. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So with the revitalization of public health that the Member for Yellowknife North was asking about earlier, will there be a contemplation of adequate staffing levels throughout the system so that surge maybe doesn't have such a strong impact on various regional centres when required? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier the Minister highlighted that the wellness counsellor is -- the wellness program for school-based mental health and wellness counsellors is captured in this activity. Could she tell me which line item that would be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Minister for that. When it comes to outbreaks, which of course we don't want to see but, you know, have seen as recently as last year with the TB outbreaks as the Minister mentioned, how are we addressing surge capacity for public health to go out and address outbreaks as they arise? That's an area of concern I'm hearing about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.