Sandy Lee

Because it’s important, I’m going to make one last attempt to just clarify the answer to his previous question. The reason why I say there is no black and white rule about the limitations on how we can spend doctors’ money or other money or the budget for physicians, what I meant by that is over the last two or three years FMB has directed when we are, for example, approving extra budget for, say, out-of-territory residential treatment or something, FMB has directed very clearly that that money is allocated for that item and it cannot be spent for anything else. Obviously, there is a lot of...

I could advise the Member that is one that I was very passionately involved with as a Regular Member. I fought to have this in the legislation the last time around. The Members and this standing committee expressed a lot of interest from the beginning to have these groups set up, and I can advise the Member that we have reinforced and refocused energy in that area and we have written to every community, we have approached every community, encouraging them to set up the children and family services committee as is provided for under current legislation. We are seeing some success in Fort...

I am aware of the public’s interest on this issue and I am wanting to get the information out as well. So we will be going to the public in very short order. Thank you.

Thank you. I want to make sure I answer the question and what I said was FMB wants to have and we do want to have some discipline on health care budgets. At the same time we understand that we need to have flexibility and we have asked the authorities to come up with the business case to change the spending to accommodate local needs. I don’t want to talk about individual authorities, but the authorities get block funding to deliver health care programs and there are situations where they have a budget for physicians, but they may not have a full spectrum of physicians. Actually, they use a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The chair and the Members have asked that we revisit our budget to see what options we might be able to come up with, and I’m prepared to do that. I have to state, at the same time, that the department is under fiscal pressure, as is the entire government, and we need to work carefully and thoroughly to see how we make those decisions. But I’m certainly open to working with the standing committee to see what options might be available. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I am aware of that issue. It is at a preliminary discussion stage. The federal government has made it clear that they would not be signing something that would have that sort of adverse impact on our government, but I could tell the Member that this is not advanced to a stage where you wouldn’t even get to FPT. If it were to get anywhere near that, it would be at FPT level. This is just something that is floating around on a global level.

But something in Canada, we have a federation. We have a health care federation. Provincial and territorial governments have a lot to say...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Assembly has made it a priority to focus on prevention by promoting healthy choices and lifestyles and the role of personal and family responsibility. One of the ways that the Government of the Northwest Territories supports this is through the delivery of programs like Drop the Pop. This year the Drop the Pop campaign takes places from January 17, 2011, to February 28, 2011.

Since 2006, Drop the Pop has encouraged students across the three territories to make healthier choices. This year the campaign is more important than ever as childhood obesity continues to be...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to put for the record that this Minister does have a heart, and three and a half years of being the Minister of Health did not lessen that power of the heart. I don’t think we could do this job without feeling for what our people go through.

Mr. Chairman, I was just commenting on the latest information that I remember having about some of the challenges we have with social workers’ positions in the Sahtu, and I just want to put, for the record, that the department and the authorities are committed to having our workforce on the ground. For a community as big as...

There are a couple of questions there that I need to get back to the Member on. I don’t know how long it has been vacant and I don’t know how much money it costs to use a locum as opposed to having our own. Thank you.

The three pillars of Foundation for Change are wellness, accessibility and sustainability. There is a section in Foundation for Change about working to support children, to enhance services for children, and as I said in my Minister’s statement on Friday, we support the direction and the general spirit and intent of the standing committee report on the review because it’s very much in line with what our department’s goals are under Foundation for Change. I see no gaps there and it’s very much in line. We are, I believe, moving in the same direction.