Sandy Lee

Thank you. I wonder if the Minister could tell us how much of this increase…We’re looking at $1.2 million more than what was budgeted in 2005-2006 budget. The Minister is indicating that some of that has to do with more than expected use. I guess those things could happen, but I’d like to know, I think the million shortfall is quite large and if he could say anything about why the budget was so underestimated. Does the new budget reflect that increase?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do believe that...Well, let me just finish this statement. If the Minister wants, I could…At least he has already stated many times in this House that he has gone to Calgary, and I could make that information available about how many trips he's taken to the ATCO plant in Calgary.

Mr. Speaker, let me just finish by saying that it is incumbent on all 19 of us here on a project this big that we provide enough analysis and enough information about what it is that this government is undertaking. These are legitimate questions, and I think the Minister has to...

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, this may be that this is the project to go with. Let me state this again. It may be that the Novel idea is the best way to go.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I am even more personally offended when my repeated questions about this multi-million project results in a letter from the Minister of Housing with an invitation for an all-expense paid trip to the ATCO Novel plant in Calgary, and to have him tell me how so many leaders have travelled there and how impressed they have been with them. Mr. Speaker, I am offended with this because this tells me more clearly than anything else that the Minister is totally missing the point about getting the information out about a project as big as what he’s talking about. He could do this, but he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the legislative agenda of this Assembly is very, very thin, and I think I might have given the Minister of Justice something really chewy to work on for the remainder of this Assembly, Mr. Speaker. I agree; the snowmobile association is one of the stakeholders, but there's a lot more stakeholders that he should consult and that includes the federal Minister of Justice and the City of Yellowknife, from my point of view. So could he make the commitment to consult with them and come back with an action paper by the spring session? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me zero in on the question I have here. I want to know the manpower or womanpower requirement for essential health care services, nursing and allied health care workers, nurses, doctors, therapists, rehab teams. I just want to get a picture of what needs we have for the next few years to implement all the initiatives the Minister is talking about. What do we have in place now? That would include new nurses coming out, nurse practitioners. What is our outstanding need for this workforce and what does the Minister plan to do to fill them? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, education might be one thing that can be done, but I'm not sure if that's enough. I think that is something that requires some legislative action, and it's definitely an area that is cross-jurisdictional because a snowmobile could travel from a municipality to a territorial land to federal land, and it is something that I think would require cooperation from three levels of government. Mr. Speaker, I walk my dogs everyday at Range Lake and the speed is just out of control, and I need to see that the Minister does something about that. Would the Minister...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think the Social Programs committee will have an opportunity to deal with that, then, because I wasn’t sure if it was incorporated here. Sorry. I will look into that later.

Just on the Nurse Practitioner Program, Madam Chair, I just want to comment on this program because I didn’t get a chance to do that when I was commenting on all the other things the Minister is working on in health care delivery in Yellowknife and downtown clinics. I have to say that I think that is one addition in the clinics that is working well, and I know that the Minister is planning on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know Mr. Pokiak has been recognized already, but he certainly is the owner of one of the most beautiful houses in the Northwest Territories where I had the privilege of staying when I was there, but he wasn't there, so I would like to welcome him to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Villeneuve.