David Ramsay

With people’s lives hanging in the balance on a medevac or an air ambulance flight from the Northwest Territories into Edmonton, you would think that the Government of the Northwest Territories would have a position on the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton. I’m wondering why the Minister and why the government hasn’t taken a position on that closure. I think that’s very strange, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services going back to my Member’s statement where I talked about a thousand medevac or ambulance flights that originate in the Northwest Territories that head for Edmonton and use the City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta. There’s talk now of closure of that airport and I’m wondering if the Minister of Health could let us know what the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton will mean to our health care expenditures here in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 43-16(5), Supplementary Estimates No. 3, 2010-2011 (Infrastructure Expenditures), be now concluded and that Tabled Document 43-16(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This closure will affect each and every community in the Northwest Territories and all of our residents. In the North, air ambulance service is a service that our residents depend on. Why doesn’t our government have anything at all to say about the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Getting back to the question Ms. Bisaro had and that Mrs. Groenewegen raised in her Member’s statement, the utilization of existing plates. If folks could go into the Department of Transportation and give them their old plate -- and I know the Minister talked about there being some kind of toxic paint or something on them. People aren’t going to eat them. They’re going to put them in their rec room or have them as a memento of their visit to the Northwest Territories. What’s stopping the Department of Transportation from collecting the plates from residents, giving them...

I agree with the Minister on all those points but the fact is the design of the plate itself. I know the department came back to the committee and told us this “Spectacular” slogan would end up on that. We agreed with that. However, there is some design on the bottom of that plate that was never discussed with committee.

I’d like to ask the Minister why the committee, why the public wasn’t given some opportunity to comment on proposed options for the new design of the plate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use my statement today to highlight Nurses’ Week, which is the week of May 10th to 16th. Nurses have been, and remain, the cornerstone of our health care system. I want to share with you part of an e-mail that I received from a friend of mine who has been in and out of hospital the past few years.

“Hi, Dave. Just got out of Stanton. Second time this month after another bout of pneumonia. My treatment and care were, as always, first class. We are blessed with nurses and doctors who really care about people.”

It is treatment like this that our residents receive...

First reading of bills.

I thank the Minister for that. The bottom line is that there is a new design on the plate. We can agree to disagree on whether there’s a new design on the plate, but anybody looking at the new plate will certainly see that there’s a new design on the bottom portion of that plate. I’ll leave it at that.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, for example, if somebody had personalized plates with the old plates, they pay a specialized fee for getting personalized plates. If they’ve just done that in the past six or eight months, now they’re going to be expected to not only pay the $10 for...