Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Minister. Your time is up, Mr. Dolynny. I will allow you a further question. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you. We will take a brief break.

I call Committee of the Whole to order. The Speaker has listed off the items that are in Committee of the Whole today. What is the wish of the committee today? Mr. Menicoche.

I think there are stories to be told. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I think that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission went a long ways towards the healing that comes from people being able to talk about their issues. So while I applaud the Minister for forming this group and sending them out, I think we need to talk to the people who can share the most with us, and I think that is the people affected every day by the addictions in the Northwest Territories.

When does the Minister expect to have results from the work of this commission? Is there still time to integrate this kind of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Some days I talk about what the Northwest Territories would look like without drugs and alcohol. That’s an exercise that I’d like to use as a bit of a visioning exercise.

We have many, many healthy people in the Northwest Territories and that’s something to celebrate and something I’m very happy about. But you know that political statement that’s always said no one left behind? There’s a lot of people who are living in bondage today to drugs and alcohol, who...

Okay, committee, I’d like to call us back to order, please. We have agreed to consider Tabled Document 9-17(4), Main Estimates, 2013-2014. We’ve also agreed to begin with general comments. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if he would like to bring witnesses into the House.

Thank you, Mr.Chairman. I wasn’t going to make general comments, but after hearing my colleague from Yellowknife Centre, I guess I do need to talk about the budget here a little bit.

Yellowknife only got mentioned once in the budget address? Like please. This government has got to look outside of Yellowknife. I mean, Yellowknife might as well be on a different planet when you get out into the other communities. It’s not even in the same league, and how for these few jobs that are being decentralized after, for my case, 18 years of begging in this House? I know beggars can’t be choosers, but we...

Is committee agreed?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to ask the Minister, does he need any further political support for this concept, for this idea. Would he like my colleague from Hay River North, would you like us to approach the Seniors’ Society, the Town of Hay River, other stakeholders from within Hay River to get support for this idea of looking at the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital as a long-term care facility in the interim?