Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, that may or may not be something that this Legislature or future Legislatures have to consider. What we are doing right now is reviewing the government’s model and all of the chairs are fully engaged in working together as closely as possible, so that we are not working as eight separate authorities but we are working as a group. We meet every three months. We are looking at how to use doctors and resources better, how to find efficiencies in medical travel. How do we make sure that we collect all the money that is owed to us from anybody? How do we bill for services that we are...

The question is not whether or not we support or do not support what a municipal jurisdiction in another province is doing. What we are doing is we’re going to look after the patient safety of our northern residents. That’s our job, that’s what we are doing, and I am working, as the Minister responsible, for our residents, to make sure that our interests are protected.

I’ve said it many, many times and I say it again, and I don’t know if anybody… I don’t know. I’m on record on many, many occasions to say we are engaged. I am talking to Alberta Health Services. I am talking to the Minister of Health of Alberta, who is directly in charge of medevac services in Alberta and provision of services in Alberta facilities. The Premier has conveyed the government’s position to the mayor. My deputy minister is in communication with the assistant deputy minister of Alberta. We have a commitment from Alberta government that we are going to be part of the plan. We are...

Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe there was a question. I agree with the Member that this is very important to us and we are fully engaged. We are engaged at all appropriate and necessary levels, at the Minister’s level and at the official level. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, yes, indeed. We have invited the mayor to come up this summer. The mayor had committed to come up, but given that they were going through the election this September wasn’t going to be a good time. I was hoping that that could happen when the committee members were here.

Regardless, Edmonton as a municipality has made a decision to close that airport. It has been going on for many years. It started in a phased approach. The plebiscite was held 15 years ago. The recent election confirmed again the public position on that. My job as the Minister of Health and Social Services and this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I may, I would also like to recognize His Worship Denny Rodgers, the mayor of Inuvik, who is also a little brother of my first best friend when I moved to Yellowknife, Canada, 32 years ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right is Ms. Lisa Cardinal, director of policy and planning and evaluation for the Department of Health and Social Services. To my left is Mr. Mark Aitken, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to introduce Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act. This bill will regulate the profession of social work in the NWT and ensure that only qualified individuals will be able to call themselves social workers. It was developed collaboratively with the NWT Regulation Subcommittee of the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada.

Social workers play a crucial role in the health and social services system and provide services to children, adults, families, groups, organizations and communities. This legislation is intended to protect the public by ensuring...

I’m doing exactly that, so I’m sure the Member agrees with what I am doing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am on record to say that the municipality had voted on a plebiscite years ago to close this airport in a phased fashion. Two years ago we were aware that they were closing this and the letter that the Stanton CEO sent is not a letter to some consultant in Missouri. That was, in fact, very appropriate and direct input that our government put in. We wrote to them to tell them how important this service is. We were involved exactly where we should have been.

Mr. Speaker, since then, the decision to close the airport has had overwhelming support within the municipality...