Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there will be a meeting, but it will be after we get the test results back so we have something specific to talk about. One of the issues on the table is if there is no foreseeable future for the diseased bison issue and if it’s going to be unresolved, well then clearly one of the options I will have to consider, as the Minister, is do we just take the herd back and release it back into the wild and say it was a good exercise, it’s been nine years and there’s no progress as opposed to possibly just moving them to another location and keeping them in a...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the implication would be that Cabinet just makes half-cocked decisions. There is a lot of work put into this. This issue has been on the table for many, many months and it has been made after careful and hard consideration, recognizing the implications. Yes, we’ve taken, I think, appropriate care and caution, and in a measured way made this decision. We’ll provide the information, and we’re going to come forward with more detail in the business plan, and we would be more than willing to have the discussion on that detail when we hit that process....

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there are two significant issues; one is more short-term and one is longer term. In the short term we’re waiting for the test results to come back to confirm or not the initial potential findings of one of the tests that were done on the buffalo of the Hook Lake herd that are outside of the community. The other bigger piece is if there was a broader plan here at play to try to deal with the issue of diseased bison that exist in the park and outside of the park in the Northwest Territories and down into Alberta, and the point of the Hook Lake herd was...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it’s not anticipated that we’re going to be paying a premium in the range that my colleague seems to be implying. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would be happy to do so. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. For the record, we should be absolutely, categorically, unequivocally and starkly clear that we are not messing around with the program. We are moving the program as it exists to another community with the same contractor, with the same skills and with access to the same resources to do that. I want to point out the majority of children who access TTC are from outside of Yellowknife. We will provide the information as was promised, and if it’s insufficient I am sure that I will be getting direct feedback from the Members and if it is insufficient we’ll try to fill in...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, maybe just to give a bit of perspective on this issue; up until relatively recently, before the start of this pilot project in Yellowknife, there was only medical respite, which closed the door on a majority of people that had dependants at home that didn't need medical respite but could benefit from the program that was created here in Yellowknife on a pilot basis.

We have taken the step to move away from just the medical respite to do the social respite. I acknowledge fully in this House that we are beset by far more problems than we have resources....

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the majority of these children are going to come from communities outside of Yellowknife and many smaller communities, communities that may struggle just to have a nurse, let alone the range of services that we are discussing in this House that may be available in Yellowknife or Hay River. The services the children need will be available in Hay River or there will be arrangements made to access them in Yellowknife. If you look at the work plan and the plan for Health and Social Services for the next two years, the plan is to re-establishment...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I was asked to provide this information to the Members and I will do that. There are no caveats on it. I will also bring a package to Cabinet tomorrow to get some feedback, as we do before we table any documents, to see what the will of Cabinet is. At this point, the Member will have the information. He can look at it and determine how best he wants to use it, as will every other Member of this House. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, earlier my colleague from Kam Lake made some unfortunate comments where he spoke in an absolute way about the fact that Health and Social Services obviously didn’t care about children. I just want to point out for the record that there are over 1,200 employees who work for Health and Social Services plus many contractual employees through NGOs and other service agencies, the majority of whom deal with children on a daily basis. They have devoted their lives to working with children and are very caring and committed people. It’s an unfortunate...