David Ramsay

Yes, that is the way this bill is set up, Mr. Braden. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have Ms. Janis Cooper with the Department of Justice; to my right is Mr. Glen McLean, CEO.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present Bill 15, Elections and Plebiscites Act, on behalf of the Legislative Assembly’s Board of Management. This bill will combine the current Elections Act and the Plebiscites Act into one act with the core components of each being maintained. The new act allows for a reorganization of the major components of the existing acts, the updating of definitions and language, clarification of some existing provisions, the addition of new provisions to address such matters as campaigning, access to multiple dwelling sites, restricting the use of electoral...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it gets back to priorities and setting priorities in the government. I could tell the Minister right off the top of my head where $2 million could be easily found, and that’s repatriating the jobs from his department back to the Housing Corporation and scraping the macroeconomic policy shop that’s planned.

But, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Minister, given the fact that there’s a shortage of trained childcare workers here in the Northwest Territories, what strategy or plans does the Minister have to help us get more trained childcare workers here...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in February, I had asked a number of questions to the Minister of ECE in regards to day care spaces and inequities that exist amongst day care providers. Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out in my Member’s statement, the government spends roughly $32 million a year on corrections and just under $5 million on early childhood development. This is a ratio or something that just shouldn’t be allowed to happen. I would say that if we tried to get those numbers a little bit closer in the next 20 years, we wouldn’t be spending as much in the area of corrections, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Service.

Can the Minister please state any and all cases where they had paid for out-of-country medical care for a resident of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister what steps he, as the Minister of Health and Social Services, can take for my constituent so that he doesn’t have to continue to be on a wait list for a program in Calgary so that he can get some treatment. I’d also like to ask the Minister if in fact he can sit down with his staff at Health and Social Services to come up with a more effective game plan for the treatment of this individual. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve shared some information, and again it gets back to my Member’s statement, with a constituent who continues to suffer, not being given a diagnosis yet as to his condition. I have shared that information with the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to again question the Minister on this case. The first question I have, Mr. Speaker, is does the Northwest Territories have a policy to deal with what we would deem acceptable levels for wait times for a diagnosis and subsequently a treatment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to again address the concern that I have over the treatment, or lack thereof, of a constituent of mine. I believe it is unreasonable and unacceptable that he has been allowed to suffer through almost three years of chronic pain, unable to work and unable to support his family. On Monday of this week, I had asked the Minister responsible, Mr. Roland, about how our government treats cases where an individual can’t get a diagnosis here in the NWT. Given the fact that my constituent has been waiting almost three years and the department’s answer is to force...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This individual’s been in pain and suffering for three years. He’s in the process of going to India, all the way to India, to get treatment for a condition in his back. Mr. Speaker, I want the Minister to make a commitment. It’s been three years and I think it’s an acceptable level of service if that individual has to take that step to go to India when he comes back that this government cover the medical portion of his visit to India so that he can get the help that he obviously can’t get here in Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.