David Ramsay

The Opportunities Fund itself is a substantial amount of money, in the neighbourhood initially of $128 million. A decision like that by Cabinet to go from a passive investment vehicle to something which is very high risk, I think that’s a decision and a question that should have been asked of all Members of this House. There is a number of Members on this side of the House that have some good ideas about how to stimulate our own northern economy and perhaps even borrowing some of the money ourselves and looking at our own stimulus package. You know, we never had the chance, and like I said...

I’ve got a few people I’d like to recognize today: Barb Wyness and Gayla Wick with the UNW. I’d like to thank both ladies for their help on the petition I’ll be presenting later today. Also, Mr. David Wind and Lydia Bardak, both Yellowknife city councillors, and a former colleague on Yellowknife City Council, Mr. Ben McDonald; also a former Member, Leon Lafferty. Welcome Chief Lafferty. I can’t see up behind me so welcome to any other Kam Lake constituents and other folks who are in the gallery today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to present a petition dealing with the matter of changes to seniors’ Health Benefits Program. The petition contains 727 signatures of NWT residents, broken down from the following communities: Fort Good Hope, 35; Inuvik, 57; Fort Resolution, 25; Fort Smith, 320. That’s a total 727 signatures. The petitioners request that the GNWT stop the implementation of the Supplementary Health Benefits Program and Catastrophic Drug Program, and that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct public consultations with all groups in the Northwest Territories before...

Mr. Speaker, again, I do find it hard to believe that we don’t know and we can’t guess. Maybe now that we’re looking at income testing, I think there are other ways we can model this. We can find out -- and I agree with the Minister -- if low-income earners and low-income families are the area that we need to address as a government, we should be doing that. We should find out how many people there are in that segment and find out what it costs. That’s what we’re asking for here.

While I’m talking about cost, I want to ask the Minister what work is the Department of Health and Social Services...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to present a petition dealing with the matter of changes to seniors’ Health Benefits Program. The petition contains 727 signatures of NWT residents, broken down from the following communities: Fort Good Hope, 35; Inuvik, 57; Fort Resolution, 25; Fort Smith, 320. That’s a total 727 signatures. The petitioners request that the GNWT stop the implementation of the Supplementary Health Benefits Program and Catastrophic Drug Program, and that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct public consultations with all groups in the Northwest Territories before...

Mr. Speaker, again, I do find it hard to believe that we don’t know and we can’t guess. Maybe now that we’re looking at income testing, I think there are other ways we can model this. We can find out -- and I agree with the Minister -- if low-income earners and low-income families are the area that we need to address as a government, we should be doing that. We should find out how many people there are in that segment and find out what it costs. That’s what we’re asking for here.

While I’m talking about cost, I want to ask the Minister what work is the Department of Health and Social Services...

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Numerous other Members have asked questions today about the supplementary health benefits and the proposed changes to those. Part of the big issue that I’m having with this is the analytical work, the work that somebody inside of the Department of Health and Social Services is, and should be, conducting on this. I don’t know how the Minister and the government could go public with a policy as half-baked and disjointed as this policy is. The Minister announced it in December and here we are the first week of...

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Numerous other Members have asked questions today about the supplementary health benefits and the proposed changes to those. Part of the big issue that I’m having with this is the analytical work, the work that somebody inside of the Department of Health and Social Services is, and should be, conducting on this. I don’t know how the Minister and the government could go public with a policy as half-baked and disjointed as this policy is. The Minister announced it in December and here we are the first week of...

Mr. Speaker, the income thresholds proposed are miserably low. Means testing individuals or families dealing with chronic illness is something we certainly need to re-examine. As a government, we cannot continue to make half-baked policy decisions that detrimentally affect the psyche and feelings of our residents. We need to keep people here in the North, not keep looking for creative ways to drive people away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the income thresholds proposed are miserably low. Means testing individuals or families dealing with chronic illness is something we certainly need to re-examine. As a government, we cannot continue to make half-baked policy decisions that detrimentally affect the psyche and feelings of our residents. We need to keep people here in the North, not keep looking for creative ways to drive people away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.