Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of WCB and it’s with regard to what he said yesterday on the WCB’s opening of the door of sorts, that they are looking at changing, finally, the policy on chronic pain which would allow benefits of permanent/partial disability. He’s saying, on page 884, that they have to look specifically…The thing I am having trouble with is WCB is again having to consult. I think it’s a good thing to consult, but at a certain point when a Minister and the corporation and the Board of Governors who haven’t been given the powers under the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a written question to the Premier.

Please provide a government analysis of the study entitled The Mackenzie Gas Project - A Financial and Economic Assessment, prepared for Alternatives North by Pacific Analytics Inc., dated September 26th, including its implication on the government’s negotiation with the federal government on resource revenue sharing and devolution. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be cautious in my support of the Minister, because I happen to think that the corporation really doesn't need that much more consultation and dithering on this issue, I'm going to tell you. But I have to tell you that I've had such little good news out of this that I'm prepared to hang onto anything, and what I'm hearing today is that the corporation is willing to look at chronic condition as something that would be eligible for permanent disability. Now, that's an opening that I'm willing to go with. But I'd like to ask the Minister and the corporation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was holding back on the questions for WCB because I believe that the AOC is working on the response to the work that the committee has done, but the Minister's answers to the Member for Great Slave has intrigued me on this issue so I would like to ask the Minister for more information about what it is exactly that the WCB is going out to the stakeholders on. Does that suggest that the WCB is now ready to change the policies that would be more in line with the Valic and Martin decision, which is different from what the corporation has been telling us?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week the former Minister of Health and Social Services committed to have in the capital budget for YACCS be in place for the '08-09 fiscal year, and obviously this is better than nothing but it's still disappointing from where we all thought we were at. Mr. Speaker, for at least a dozen years, concerned citizens of Yellowknife have worked tirelessly on this project. In fact, the government was so impressed with the proposal done by the YACCS that it actually hired the consultant that worked on the project to do a plan for the entire NWT. Well, good...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have communication with the Minister in writing and I don't want to read it again, and I would like to take the Minister's commitment here to go with. But at the same time, could I just ask the Minister whether or not it would be possible to have those changes made to the rules of court on the service requirement, first of all to confirm that his officials will work toward making it acceptable to have an employer being served the same as the employee and, second of all, whether the Minister could give a commitment as to how long this will take for that to happen...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to speak as a Regular Member in this Assembly, not as the chair of Social Programs. I just want to start by thanking the Minister for bringing this legislation forward. I do realize that any document that says Garnishment Remedies Statutes Amendment Act might not be very exciting, but I have to tell you that this is a legislative amendment that has quite important, practical implications for a lot of residents out there.

I believe the Minister has mentioned the Creditors Relief Act has not had amendments in this jurisdiction for a very long time, and this...

And billions with a B; and Pacific Analytic Inc. Consulting Economists. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table three documents, the Mackenzie Gas Project - A Financial and Economic Assessment; Alternatives North media release on the independent report finds the Mackenzie gas project will be highly profitable and our governments are foregoing billions in potential tax revenue.

Short supplementary, Mr. Speaker. Could I ask the Minister as to whether there's an opening for this review of policy to apply to all the outstanding files that deal with chronic pain? That whatever the corporation comes up with that it would apply to all the outstanding files dealing with chronic pain? Thank you.