Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I do, and I shall.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much to the Members who spoke in support of the bill. You know, I do want to reflect as Members -- the bill, the motion. The motion; it's not a bill. Thank you for the correction. Not a full Point of Order but technically important.

So this all started -- Members have alluded to this, but one of the first substantive motions that we debated in this chamber of this Assembly was for a public inquiry, and the reason it is related to the motion is this report emerged from that. So we wouldn't have this report without that...

Thank you. And how long is the intended work going to take? Is this a larger multi-year project or something that's just going to occur in the next fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS public safety is a key priority of the 20th Legislative Assembly established through "safe and healthy communities"

AND WHEREAS climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of flooding, wildfires and other natural disasters;

AND WHEREAS the 2023 wildfire evacuations of two-thirds of the population of the Northwest Territories, and subsequent evacuations due to severe climate events, have resulted in continuing trauma and negative mental health impacts;

AND WHEREAS, on June 13, 2024, the Government of the Northwest Territories contracted Transitional...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleague from Mackenzie Delta.

During his briefing to committee, Hale also responded to the possibility of expanding the provision of legal aid services in the territory, highlighting that civil matters, including matters related to estates, may be addressed within the legal aid outreach clinics. It was described that legal aid tends to be focused on criminal and family law matters and that the expansion of services would necessarily also require an expansion of the funding envelope to legal aid. Committee acknowledges these challenges and supports...

Mr. Speaker, we've been at this for ten years, whether it's an MOU, an MOC, an MOA, M-O-U-S-E. Can the Minister just commit to transfer the land to the city of Yellowknife and to all municipalities as laid out by several motions that have been brought to the floor of the Assembly before, that's been passed in this Assembly. Will the Minister just make the decision today to transfer the land so our communities can grow? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I have spoken to information system's consultants, and this is a concern. So will the Member -- the Member's going to get me information -- will the Member -- sorry, will the Minister explore this with her department and see if there are holdups in the Health Information Act and identify any legislative change that needs to be done and report back to either me or the House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members have raised the issue of online bookings for primary care appointments in this House often. If you go to a private clinic in Yellowknife, you can do online booking, as I have done from time to time, to stay out of the emergency room. So my understanding is the Health Information Act is preventing this change. Can the Minister confirm if it is, in fact, the Health Information Act that prevents us from online booking systems in primary care appointments? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of a complaint that I received, the patient actually pushed back and said please book it all at once so I don't have to do four trips. They didn't want this. So will the Minister commit today to end this waste that's going on in the system and ensure that we streamline appointments so they're all happening at the same time; will she commit to fix that in the medical travel policy today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health care sustainability unit has determined that we pay just about double for health care in the Northwest Territories. Health care funding is a quarter of our budget and the deficit is expected to be $350 million, which is consistent with deficits that have been climbing over the years. That's why we have the unit. The question is, what is the public administrator doing to curb this deficit, to bring sustainability to the unit. We know how much it costs now. What is he doing to bring those costs down? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.