Bill Braden

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, there are a couple of things in here that should be celebrated, as Ms. Lee pointed out, when we see good work, even if it is the result of years of hard slogging. When the paperwork actually lands on the desk and we are given the chance to say yes to it and really have it mean something, then that is something that makes this job worthwhile.

Ms. Lee has highlighted the territorial dementia centre, a long sought after program. Madam Chair, I think just about all Members, members of the general public, the media, have all heard the stories of families that are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most of the presenters expressed a view that while they would like to see the government introduce better means to address illegal and illicit activities in their communities, evicting people from their homes may, in fact, cause more social problems in communities.  There is also a question about how effectively SCAN legislation would address the issue it is designed to address.

In Yellowknife, Ben McDonald stated that “It seems like the act is designed as good politics but I don’t think it’s necessarily designed as good social policy or as good social development...

Mr. Speaker, what steps will the WCB be taking to address the relatively large caseload of longstanding chronically unresolved issues for injured workers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to stand here today and recognize my wife of almost 30 years now, Valerie;…

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…my mother of all my life, Esther; a great friend and teacher of many people across the North, Ed Jeske.

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Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize a constituent and leader in the arts community here in Yellowknife, Mr. Glen Abernethy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we shouldn’t allow this to get into such a bureaucratic argument at this stage. I am disappointed to hear that the Minister says we should compare ourselves to other jurisdictions. We should compare ourselves to the contracts and things that are in place. Mr. Speaker, we really need to look forward in a much more progressive and collaborative way and rethink this. I will ask once again, is the government going to instruct the business planners to really rethink the way we set up our partnerships and our long-term business with these organizations?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to see that we are making some progress here, but I don’t know that I would say that allowing organizations to allow for forced growth really amounts to rethinking a partnership that we should engage in. Let’s connect the dots here, Mr. Speaker. There are homelessness issues, family violence and dysfunction, and mental health issues grow in our communities and become more sophisticated. We rely very heavily on these organizations to be the frontline, go-to places to manage this for us. But even as these issues increase in our communities, we are disabling...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize in the gallery today Sue Glowach, a good family friend and also a great supporter of an organization that I have been involved with for some time, the International Exchange Student Organization. I know that her family will again be welcoming a student to Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A question of clarification. The information provided indicates that this amount, $3 million, is about 50 percent more than the amount originally allocated for this kind of activity here, which basically, Mr. Chairman, relates to rising expenses in out-of-territory hospitals, physicians from outside of the NWT. I just wanted to confirm, am I interpreting this correctly? Are the expenses that are being requested here, the funds being requested, about a 50 percent increase over what was originally budgeted, or can the Minister offer some context for this number?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the need to book this amount in excess of $10 million has been well explained and well justified. If we know we may have a liability or a future liability or debt, we should flag it now and make sure that it’s recorded for openness and accountability.

The detail in this area here is entirely environmental. It relates almost entirely to known or potential contamination from tank farms, fuel facilities, Mr. Chairman. This is not an uncommon situation all over North America, all over the world. The question I wanted to ask was, as our government took over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister just told us that ultimately it’s the cost that this Assembly has to consider. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister at all considering the need that the people of the Northwest Territories have for the service? Isn’t that really our primary job here?