Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was three questions. I wonder if I could just get my fourth one in.

Thanks for the comments from the Minister. Obviously, most of those don’t deal with dementia, but the last category is certainly the one we’re focusing on here today. The Territorial Admissions Committee makes decisions about placement of older adults – and I have no doubt that’s what the Minister was referring to there – and they make decisions to ensure they get placed where there is proper care. However, if there are facilities that are not being used, they’re in danger of making poor decisions. In fact, just such a situation exists in Fort Smith, where we have spent $6 million to open a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister, I think, is correct, according to the information I have. Stanton is the highest at 20 percent, but there are others that are high, as well, and the trend of all of them is to go up from five to 20 times the percentages over the last four years.

I’d still like clarity on what the lines of authority are for dealing with this. Is it that the Minister has no authority or thinks he has no authority? What is he doing to exert his responsibility, as the Minister, to get training programs in place that result in the sorts of progress that we want to see?

Thank you. Actually, the hospital is relatively low compared to those authorities that don’t have hospitals, but the Department of Health may not exercise individual operational control of the health authority, but perhaps they do. However, ultimately we must hold the Minister responsible for their funding and oversight. So, obviously, the substantial failures here in reducing claims experience have a negative consequence of large penalties that the GNWT must pay.

Can the Minister confirm that helping the authorities control these costs is not only in the interest of but ultimately the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Linnea Stephenson today, a Page from Weledeh.

I’d also like to recognize the work of all of our Pages and express my thanks to them. Linnea I’m sure can be found at the Snow Show at the Yellowknife Ski Club this Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In June I received a response to my written and other questions to the Ministers responsible for the WSCC and Human Resources. They revealed the extent of penalties we pay for failed safety programs and claims payments, but they also reveal core management issues that need to be addressed.

In July we paid over $500,000 in penalties for exceptional claims and safety management practices last year, with another large penalty expected this year. Looking at the departmental safety and claims records over the past four years, improvements in positive trends are evident for...

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. Unfortunately, this Assembly is becoming known as one that studies problems rather than deals with them. I really hope that the Minister will take the lead in working with his colleagues in addressing the situation and committing… First of all, will he commit to finding out the extent of the problem and why our food banks are failing, and people do not have food on their table despite all the programs mentioned.

No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Snow is on the ground and the land and waterways are freezing up. While some of us may grumble about the onset of winter, there are many of us that are celebrating. Snow is a playing field for many Northerners. The Yellowknife Nordic Centre is just such a playing field, and many Yellowknifers are waxing their skis to get going once again in the sports of skiing and biathlon.

This Saturday the Yellowknife Ski Club is kicking off the new season with the Annual Snow Show. From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the chalet will be a hive of activity as people sign up for programs, get...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That’s all the questions I have. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment. I would look forward to any information he could provide on that.

Like I said, I believe it was done early to midterm in the 16th Assembly, if my memory is correct, which there are no guarantees. Thank you.