Bill Braden

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I do want to express my appreciation and support and the justification that my colleagues have given for backing this on behalf of injured workers in their constituencies who they know of. Mr. Hawkins indicated that our phones are indeed ready to be answered. I must admit I am feeling a little shy, Mr. Speaker, because I don’t have boxes and boxes of files that I will be able to put at the disposal of the Auditor General, because so many of those workers over the years have had to leave the NWT and are living in other parts of Canada because they simply...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Ministers responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut appointed a Workers' Compensation Board Legislative Review Panel in 2001 to consult with stakeholders and make recommendations to the Ministers for changes to the acts;

AND WHEREAS the panel, upon completion of its work, prepared a report in December 2001 entitled "Act Now" which expressed concern that the workers' compensation system has become adversarial and recommended, based on input from both workers and employers, that an independent review of WCB...

Mr. Speaker, I very much look forward to the opportunity to take these issues on with our American friends. I do call them friends; our nations do have their differences, but we have so much in common. This is where I wanted to ask too of the potential that this web site has to engage in even greater trade and exchange. The American market is the world’s biggest consumer of energy and diamonds, we’ve got lots of that, and they are great consumers of our hunting and fishing products. Can we use this new link, Mr. Speaker, to further share in our interests with the Americans for those...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister also agreed that we’ve entered into a new agreement now with the Capital Health Authority at a 4.8 percent rate increase. What kind of term is there on this agreement, Madam Chair?

Thank you. Yes. Well, let’s see if we can…okay. Madam Chair, we spent, according to the supplementary here, about 33 percent more than forecast with the Capital Health Authority of Alberta due to increased utilization and an increase in rates. This is a considerable jump from forecast. The information says that the approved budget was $12 million, the total projected costs for this year are $16 million, so we have a shortfall of $4 million. I’m wondering if the Minister could give a bit of detail on the increased utilization, as well as the jump in rates. Thank you very much.

Sorry, Madam Chair. I was following the pages here and didn’t quite get the break. I wanted to see if I could inquire into the additional costs for provision of hospital services from Alberta. This would be on page 10, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to confirm that this request is essentially a response of overwhelming popularity to try and keep the winter road open for as long as we can. In other words, Mr. Chairman, this is not driven by an unusually long spell of bad weather when the road was closed, a lot of overflow or something that cuts into the already planned item, we are just extending it because people like the road connecting. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So $300,000 is the request to restore the cash flow. For the total of this year, what was the total amount of doubtful accounts that was booked? I would just like to get a sense of how much over the forecast we are on this one. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Chairman, I guess I am surprised, quite surprised, if I hear the Minister right that we make no attempt whatsoever to get the best deal we can from suppliers where there is a competitive private market. Did I hear that right?

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I will support this motion. I am sorry, supporting this bill. It is an area that I was involved in, in the last Assembly, Madam Chairperson, when this Assembly amended our adoption laws to legalize the adoption rights and responsibilities of a couple if they are of the same sex and recognizing how we are to manage and set laws for adopting children.

At the time, it was made quite clear that if we were to take that step, as we did, there would be further consequential changes to many of our other laws, which also needed to reflect the new definitions. There are...