Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very briefly, I’m in total support of this motion. Adult diagnosis is a gap we’ve overlooked and are seeking, through the good work of my colleagues here, to fill. We’re missing an opportunity to help people in many ways that, really, we are responsible for as a government.

This is a huge issue for the Northwest Territories. We learned during our visit to Alberta, the ministry down there, that there are great strides being made in assessment and working with the people with FASD, and particularly with adults, new research going on there. So with proper diagnosis...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s Nutrition Month and I think it’s a good idea to piggyback a boost to nutrition onto a great new green initiative and I want to start by saying I really appreciate adding milk containers to the Waste Reduction Program. It’s something that’s been called for by our public and this is good of the government to respond.

The unintended side effect, though, Mr. Speaker, is to tax nutrition and that is one unintended result, because there is a price spread between the amount of deposits paid on milk containers and the amount refunded. Milk or equivalent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure it will be profitable to our partners. What I’m talking about is public interest. So, yes, I would like the Premier to commit to a re-examination of the more costly alternatives, but the one that actually goes forward with the public interest addresses multiple goals rather than services a single provider that we hope is going to be there long enough to help pay for the system and put it around the west side where we know there are permanent customers waiting to use that power in a responsible way over the long haul. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is still no real plan in place and what have we got to show for the work that’s been done so far? The Hydro Corporation has promised feasibility, analysis and design for a potential electrical grid. Where is that? What is the status of its development? Why is this majority shareholder permitting its corporation to concoct multimillion dollar schemes without a business plan for the development of our electrical system?

So, Mr. Speaker, we’ve talked about hydro strategies and so on, but we have never seen any work come forward. When we have asked questions, it’s been written off out of hand...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do not need another Deh Cho Bridge financial boondoggle, yet we have already sunk more than $13 million in public money into the Taltson Hydro Project. I want to know how the public interest is being represented in the controversial and ephemeral proposed routing of the Taltson hydro transmission line to serve a single customer goal: the diamond mines. Where is the strategic thinking?

Restricting a transmission line to the east side of the lake may serve our project partners in their search for returns, but I don’t see a serious consideration of public...

Thanks for those comments from the Minister. I assume, then, she will be doing a second and third round of consultation taking that back with the implications of different selected thresholds.

On what basis does the Minister take a year -- that’s 12 months, Mr. Speaker -- to start producing the basic research into what should have been provided in the original effort 18 months ago, and then expect the public consultation to be done in six weeks? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to acknowledge the Minister of Health is not seeking to reduce the cost of supplementary health benefits, but costs are clearly rising. So I assume, at a minimum, she’s strongly motivated to control future costs whole providing the best benefits possible. I think that is what she was saying yesterday.

However, pharmaceuticals are clearly the single biggest driver of increasing costs. My question, Mr. Speaker: will the Minister commit to bringing back detailed options for reducing drug costs, including information on the proposed western province’s drug buying...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 4, 2010, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Tabled Document 4-16(5), Foundation for a Sustainable Northern Future, Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project, Executive Summary, December 2009, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, what a scathing comment to our public that is. If there is one possible kernel I could pick out of that it is that the Minister has finally produced initial baseline research that can get intelligent discussion in the public, but it’s initial.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister recognize the need, duty and opportunity for meaningful public engagement in the Supplementary Health Benefits Program by extending consultation through the fall with an implementation target in 2011? Mahsi.