Kieron Testart

Thank you. I suppose the question is like, and I appreciate that the apology was forthcoming and it was swift. It still made the news, which no communications professional wants. So I'm just wondering if I know, again, a lot of work has been done in previous years to centralize communications corporate communications, and I have heard anecdotically that perhaps that's that hasn't given departments the kind of capacity they were promised. So how is that working from the perspective of ECE in their communications function? Is the centralize is the shared communications function serving this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, I mean, if I think just about everyone committed to some sort of landbased treatment option, whether it's an ontheland program, an Indigenous cooperated wellness centre, but the priority is getting local options into regions and decrease our reliance on out of territory specialized facilities. I think a good place to start there is to look at cost and to see if there is like, what's realistic here, because we always resort to the same arguments where we can't do it efficiently or effectively in the Northwest Territories due to costs and limitations on specialized...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this is important work, and I think the Minister laid out quite clearly how it works and how it will benefit clients, in particular clients who are, I think don't want to stay trapped in poverty certainly or even require these levels of services. I think everyone wants to get back on their feet. So this is I do support integrated service delivery. I've always supported integrated service delivery. I've seen how transformative it can be, especially for those who make frequent contact with the criminal justice system. What I think is missing here are some timelines and...

Thank you. And if the department is unable to make up that difference, would then a supp come forward, a supplementary appropriation come forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so the increases to RCMP that the Premier's been speaking about, can he just give us a breakdown of where these new officers are -- or how many -- let's start -- I'll do it in smaller checks. How many new officers are being created in this budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is World No-Tobacco Day. And this year, it will be special for me - it's been 11 weeks since my last cigarette. It's not the first time I've quit but hopefully it'll be the last.

Mr. Speaker, nicotine is more addictive than alcohol, heroin, or cocaine. So days like World No-Tobacco Day are truly important to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking tobacco.

Created by the World Health Organization in 1987, the yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the WHO is doing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So would it be accurate to say that we are -- there's a higher expenditure on private lawyers than on staff lawyers in this budget? Thank you.

Okay, thank you. That's more imminent than I expected, so that's good. That's good that we're moving towards that.

So we spend an awful lot of money on the authorities, which is to be expected given the cost of health care. But often I think there's a disconnect between what is accountable -- what the Minister is accountable for and what the authority's accountable for. And certainly when it comes to some of these workplace issues we're hearing about, some of the performance of health care services, there seems to be that disconnect. And I think that the Minister needs to be empowered to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just would like to understand why legal aid clinics is substantially higher in this budget than the Legal Aid Commission itself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you look at trends in public health care systems that use agency nurses, private health care, it always starts small. It's always a department here, a hospital there, a clinic there, and they start and it keeps ballooning, ballooning, and ballooning, and soon it's $65 million to provide a service that used to cost $10 million. And this is the case in Ontario, in Quebec, in large centres. It's the case in smaller provinces as well. I am watching the time, so I will wrap up here so the Minister can respond. But if you put an agency nurse into a small community, you will...