David Ramsay

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, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board locate the Appeals Tribunal offices separate and apart from the Workers’ Compensation Board and that this relocation be undertaken as an immediate priority. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, with me I have Mr. Mark Aitken from the Department of Justice, legislative branch, the director; to my right I have the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Tim Mercer.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am pleased to provide opening comments to Bill 17 on behalf of the Legislative Assembly’s Board of Management.

Bill 17 amends the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act to set out certain rights and privileges of the Legislative Assembly to clarify the responsibilities of the Speaker, Board of Management and officers of the Legislative Assembly to define and ensure consistent use of certain terms and to make a number of minor changes to the act.

Madam Chair, Bill 17 is the result of a comprehensive review of the NWT Legislative Assembly and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. With Bill 15, the fact of the matter is, communities are responsible for any plebiscites they would have at the community level and the type of stringent guidelines the Member talks about is not part of Bill 15. It would be up to the communities to set their own guidelines in that. 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.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Northwest Territories doesn’t have a policy that states quite clearly what acceptable levels of wait times are, then I’d suggest we get one immediately. Because my constituent has been suffering for three years, the Department of Health and Social Services' answer to that is to put him on another wait list to make him wait another two years. it’s completely unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, precedent has been set in other provinces across this country where if an individual has to seek medical attention outside the country they do so. When they come...