Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to begin today by marking the passing of a great Northerner: Archie Buckley. Many of us enjoyed the rich bounty of our fishery as a staple of our diets thanks to Archie. He was the personification of hard work and respectful, sustainable resource use. Archie Buckley lived what we talk about when we say local food for local people.

The spirit demonstrated by Archie Buckley is being carried on in the cooperative work of this community. I recently attended an event sponsored by Ecology North, the Northern Nutrition Association and the Yellowknife Community Gardens...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate those comments. I’d like to know: will we be providing support for efforts to ensure that treaty rights to water are supported and are assured in this process and what is the schedule looking like for our negotiations with the B.C. government on the transboundary agreement there? Thank you.

I’m happy to hear we’re doing more than what the newspaper reported and officials of the department reported as a wait-and-see approach. Obviously we already know from B.C. officials that the flow of the river is being shaped through this new project, or will be shaped, to service peak need periods such as winter. So this takes us away from the natural flow, which we now understand has major impacts on river systems and basins which have evolved to require those seasonal peaks and lows to maintain diversity and so on. So I’m wondering, will the Minister commit to a more active intervention...

It is everything from progressive taxation to agricultural land use plans, wise wildlife stewardship and land availability, from support to local food production enterprises and our school and early childhood development programs. Our local food producers’, our community gardeners’ and advocacy groups’ work demonstrate that much can be done to strengthen food security for all through partnership, building capacity, economic development and policy renewal. I congratulate this excellent work and look forward to full support from this government. Mahsi.

Thanks for the comments from the Minister. That provides some assurance that we are focusing here. I’d like to know how the NWT Water Strategy will, in fact, guide us in responding to these sorts of things. We put a lot of money, time, resources and so on into that and I’ve been happy to participate in that. I think it’s a good project. I look forward to seeing the final document, but how will that guide us in responding to projects such as this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health says the intent of her supplementary health proposals is to address the issue of affordability. In fact, the reverse is true. Look at the $50,000 threshold. Remember, this is the net income threshold and not the after-tax income. After taxes, a $50,000 net income shrinks to $40,000 or $42,000. Someone buying their own drugs for catastrophic issues could easily spend the 25 percent required, or $12,500. That means their real income after taxes and drugs would plummet to under $35,000. This is before any basic needs are covered. That’s...

I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have before us today Tabled Document 4-16(5), Tabled Document 30-16(5) and Tabled Document 38-16(5). What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll just remind the Minister that our Elders Parliament was clear on that question and I refer her to their sage insights on that issue. I’d like to ask what input from the Minister’s stakeholder panel did she include in the current proposals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to start by asking the Minister what is the cost of administering the current supplementary health system and what’s the anticipated cost of the new system under the Minister’s current proposal? Can she compare and contrast those costs for me? Thank you.

Thank you. It’s sad that the Minister doesn’t realize what the main point is here, that this consultation process has been a sham and that some extremely important aspects and sources of good insight for us have been skipped over in the process. I’ve had many comments from constituents on the quality and bias, for example, of the on-line survey, and I know the Minister has received those same comments, a survey which was also difficult to fill out with complete comments. Many have noted that the survey may not have been available to seniors that don’t have computers. I’m told that the, well, I...