Kevin A. Menicoche

The issues are twofold with the closing of the library. One, of course, is short-term space and a long-term solution which is providing resources to do renovations to a school and an additional building that can house a library. I’d just like to know, once again, how far has the department been successful in looking at short-term solutions and maybe even using the new government office building that’s in Fort Simpson. Have they looked at any engineering plans? Can that building sustain library services, and include, as well, resources to upgrade the current existing Village of Fort Simpson...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to welcome Mr. Tom Wilson, a Nahendeh resident of Fort Simpson and, for the third time today. It’s a pleasure to see him in the gallery.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to welcome Mr. Tom Wilson, a Nahendeh resident of Fort Simpson and, for the third time today. It’s a pleasure to see him in the gallery.

Like I said, at Fort Simpson Airport there is a phone number that people can call collect. Has the department looked at using a 1-800 system at all? I think we’ve raised it before too; I’m not too sure. Maybe it exists; I’m not too sure.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions with respect to Medical Travel.

They have been doing a really good job. I’ve brought up some concerns in the past about travelling back home to my smaller communities. In the past I had issues about not having contact information when they get to the airport, and sometimes they get stranded. So they have taken the initiative of putting up collect phone numbers and posting it around so people can see it.

But we’re still finding that constituents are showing up in Fort Simpson, and they’re...

I’m very happy to see the Minister is very attuned to the situation, because we do have patients traveling to and fro that require attention.

Just once again, I’m not too sure whether the clients are given a sheet with phone numbers on it to contact somebody when they arrive on site and there’s nobody there to pick them up or to forward them on to the next point of destination.

It’s about making the lives better for our constituents. Deh Cho Health and Social Services, like many government departments, they’re clients as well.

The main concern now, at this time of year, is that it gets darker sooner. Constituents are landing in evening flights — 7, 7:30 — and the airport gets shut down right away by airport staff. So sometimes they really don’t have an outlet for who to call or how to get transportation.

I was just wondering: does the current policy or guidelines require a call ahead of time to the community that the patient is traveling to, to advise them of their...

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak again about the initiatives and the needs of our small communities and convey the needs of my constituency. My constituency has expressed over the past four weeks the frustration of getting services to our communities and frustration about the interruption of ministerial portfolios that has impacted delivery of programs and delayed and deferred initiatives. That’s never popular with people who are waiting on programming.

However, I do want to say that I am a realist and that bringing up these issues doesn’t…. The main thing, I...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Once again, I say it’s an old system. It comes from I don’t know how many years back. It’s backwards, and it’s not working for the people. We’re asking people to save power in the smaller communities, yet in order to make money, the Power Corporation has to charge more. That’s a backwards system. I’d like the Minister to acknowledge that and look at changing that system and stop this General Rate Application and review it.

I do want to make the case that the world has changed in the last six months, Mr. Speaker. Our financial world went topsy-turvy, and we cannot be relying on our old user pay system that’s there just because fuel prices are going up. We cannot go to Granny from Nahanni and ask for more money to pay the power costs in those communities. Because of that, I ask again: can we stop this current General Rate Application process? It’s based on old, erroneous information. Plus I do not believe that this General Rate Application includes the review of operating maintenance costs, which the people have...