Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I struggle with the fact that we’re going to go and ask people. The Minister says that we don’t really know the state of alcohol. I think we know all too well the state of alcohol in our communities. I think that we need to actually start doing something. I’d like to know from the Minister, come March 2013, when he’s got all these answers, what is he going to do in March 2013 to actually implement and start acting on our addictions problem.

That will teach me to ask a yes or a no question. It would be very helpful if the Minister could advise the House and advise the general public how they could access these terms of reference which are available to them.

The other point I wanted to make is that over the years, certainly my few years here but in many years prior, the shelves of government offices are filled with reports, with consultations, results of talking to people, et cetera, et cetera. Certainly, I know that Health and Social Services, that department has done many studies and looked into, and they have many reports on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize a couple of Pages who have been working very hard for us for about the last three weeks now and one more week to go. Chris Yurris from Frame Lake and Raya Laframboise from Frame Lake are working with us here today.

I also would like to recognize a good friend and old friend – not old in age, of course – Besha Blondin. Welcome to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night Yellowknife had another successful Halloween Spook-a-Rama. Today I want to acknowledge the sponsorship of this event, Yellowknife’s longest standing Halloween tradition.

Spook-a-Rama has been put on by the Yellowknife Lion’s Club for the last 45 years. As long-time Lion’s Club member and organizer Don Finnamore told me, we are now getting third-generation spooks.

Spook-a-Rama was started in response to Halloween vandalism in downtown Yellowknife. Members of the Yellowknife Lion’s Club came up with the idea for a teen dance on Halloween. It would give the youth...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be brief. I really want to thank all my colleagues for their very thoughtful remarks and for their support. This motion goes to the need for a much needed facility, much needed resources located where it should be, north of 60. So I would like to again thank my colleagues and I would ask for a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Canada’s three northern territories encompass a vast, sparsely inhabited expanse of land and waters that is subject to a very harsh climate;

AND WHEREAS our climate is changing two to four times faster than in the South, and impacts, including increasing numbers and severity of so-called natural disasters, put residents and visitors alike at risk;

AND WHEREAS Arctic sovereignty is a stated priority of the Prime Minister of Canada;

AND WHEREAS there has been a substantial increase in commercial air traffic over polar routes since the 1990s, with the number of annual flights now exceeding...

I wish this group luck, because I think they’ve got a very tough road ahead of them.

The Minister’s indicated there is an opportunity for input. I’d like to ask the Minister about opportunity for input from the general public. I’m sure there will be people out there in the general public who would like to provide their opinion, whether or not they meet with the forum or not.

What is the Minister doing to provide that opportunity to the general public? Is there an on-line component to this Minister’s forum? Will there be an opportunity for people to e-mail? Any of those things.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask some questions further to my previous questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister responded to my questions in regard to the Minister’s Forum on Addictions that they will go out to the community and ask questions. But I understand from the Minister’s comments that this forum is going to communities with a blank page and basically saying, tell us what to do, fill up this page for us. I would like to ask the Minister if in his experience – it certainly is mine – is it better to go with a plan and ask for critical analysis of a...

I appreciate that maybe we haven’t asked the right questions, but I guess I have to go back to the information that we already have. Has the Minister done an analysis of all the reports which have been done over, say, the last 10 years, which would be full of answers to probably very similar questions? It makes me wonder what is so different about this particular forum, about the questions that we’re answering right now. Do we know that we have not asked these specific questions before?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I found it very timely that he chose to make his Minister’s statement today on the Minister’s Forum on Addictions. I have some questions in that regard.

I’ve been listening to the Minister over the last few weeks. He’s made some comments and he’s referenced a number of times consultations around mental health and addictions programs and the strategic plan. He’s spoken of a group that is out for consultations and it’s clear to me now, although it wasn’t before, that he meant the Minister’s...