Sandy Lee

I do agree with the Member that if it’s at all possible we should try to keep our children in our communities and with extended families. This is information the department keeps close tabs on. Currently in the Territories there are about 620 children in care. The vast majority of them are with extended families. Back in 1999 there were only 100 children who were with the parents or guardians or extended families. This year, as of March 31, 264 children are with parents retaining guardianship, and 316 children are with extended families. Many of them are in their communities. I think we could...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. The million dollar increase that the Member mentioned is part of our new initiative funding in the budget which increases the rates that the foster parents receive. I could also advise the Member that in his communities of Mackenzie Delta, Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, there are currently, as of March ’08, 36 children in care. The vast majority of them are with either the families or with extended families under various arrangements that makes it possible, with agreement from the government and the parents and the children...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Disability Awareness Week is from June 1 to 7, 2008. This year’s theme is Disability Is Not a Choice…Your Attitude Is.

One of the priorities for the 16th Legislative Assembly is to improve support for children and adults with special needs and disabilities. The week is an opportunity for us all to recognize the contributions that persons with disabilities make in our communities and to consider how persons with disabilities can contribute or participate in the social, recreational and educational lives of communities across the Northwest Territories.

The July 2000 report...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize World No Tobacco Day tomorrow, May 31, 2008. This day provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge the many activities aimed at the prevention and cessation of tobacco use in which the Government of the Northwest Territories has invested. These actions will create long-term benefits for Northerners and will help them make healthy and productive lifestyle choices.

Since 2002 the GNWT has made tobacco reduction a priority, and we have invested significant resources into tobacco use reduction, focusing particularly on youth...

I can tell you that when I was on the other side, I was always looking for a silver-bullet solution. But when you are Minister of Health and Social Services, it would not be wise to stop providing health and hospital and medical services to Indian and Inuit people of the Northwest Territories. I’ve been saying this; I think Members should be very clear that this is not an account receivable with $96 million written on it that we can post to Ottawa and send a collection agency after them. If that were the case, we would have done that. I think it’s really important that all the people out there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to advise the Member that I do agree with him in his Member’s statement.

Obviously, this is a big issue for us. They’re having progressive actions taken. As I indicated earlier in the session in answering Mr. Abernethy’s question on the same topic, the Premier has raised this issue repeatedly with the Prime Minister as well as the Minister of DIAND.

We, at the Department of Health, have communicated with the Minister of DIAND, asking for renegotiations. And we were actively negotiating right up to March 31, when we signed the most recent agreement. I’ve also...

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure there is one black-and-white, short answer to that issue, and I would have to disagree with the Member that there have been major problems there for eight years.

We do agree there is an accumulated-deficit situation. The government has tried to figure out exactly where the issues are. That was the reason the zero base review was initiated last fall. When I came on board, that process was in the works. We have a preliminary report that came out in April that tells us the Stanton authority does not have the money to deliver the 53 programs as funded and running now.

For...

Mr. Speaker, I want to state, first of all, that the payroll for all of the health authorities — not just Stanton but all government departments and everyone — are first paid by FMBS. That’s a regular procedure, so this is not new. Then the authorities have to pay back those amounts. Because of the cash-flow issues with Stanton Territorial Health Authority, they have not been able to pay that back.

As we know, the authority has been experiencing a deficit situation for about five years now and in the last three years more significantly than the previous two. Because they started with a deficit...

I don’t think it would be wise for me to reread what I’ve read, so let me just state again that the government considers this a very serious issue. We are looking at all options to see how we could reopen this agreement, so we can get the escalator at 2 per cent raised. I have discussed these…. We have to work with the Dene Nation leader, as well as all aboriginal leaders in the North. They have indicated their interest in working with us. This will be front and centre as we move forward to get a better agreement and reopen the agreement to start with, so we can change that escalator provision...

For the record, I should state that when the Member asked about this question, we were actively negotiating this situation, and I had indicated this to the Member. The Member was not clear about whether he was asking questions on DIAND’s funding gap, and I had three questions I had to clarify.

Mr. Speaker, I could advise you that the former Minister of Health and Social Services wrote to the DIAND Minister on June of 2007. We again wrote in October of 2007. In early November 2007, the Premier talked to Minister Strahl about this issue when he met, and I believe when the Prime Minister was in...