Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, November 5, 2010, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that this Legislative Assembly requests the Governor-in-Council to dissolve the 16th Legislative Assembly on September 4, 2011, to permit a general election for the 17th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories to be held on October 3, 2011.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I again today want to talk about health care programs and funding.

We’re all aware that funding for a valuable, well-used respite program is set to end next March. The impact has been discussed. It will adversely affect parents, but more so, in my mind, is the negative affect it will have on disabled children.

The respite program has provided socializing opportunities for these kids outside the home with their respite worker. They’ve been able to develop relationships with their worker and, more importantly perhaps, with other children.

Several parents have told me that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2(3) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act and Section 9(3) of the Northwest Territories Act, every Legislative Assembly shall continue for four years after the day fixed for the return of the writ of election for the general election and no longer;

AND WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 39(5) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act, the Legislative Assembly has expressed a desire to have the general election held on the first Monday in October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election;

AND WHEREAS...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion. For me, the preamble, the whereas clauses of this motion say it all. The government keeps saying that we value families, that we want to support families, but I find this is a very strange way of showing it by cutting a program of such value.

Further, this action flies in the face of the recently tabled report on the review of the Child and Family Services Act. Throughout that report there’s a recurring theme of the need for provision of supports for families and communities. How can the Minister of Health and Social Services accept the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to thank all the people for coming today and welcome them here. I have a number of Frame Lake residents I would like to recognize. Firstly, Dave and Maureen Miller, Dave of CBC fame; and Jessica and Vincent Casey; Katie Miller and my constituency assistant, Kerry King. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The long-awaited response from the Health Minister with regard to supplementary health benefits is finally here. I’d like to thank the Minister for her statement today. Many, many people in the public have been asking for a response to the Joint Working Group, to the changes to the Supplementary Health Benefits Policy, and they’ve been looking for information on these changes literally for months. I appreciate the Minister advising the public today through her statement.

I have to say that the 2007 policy, the rescindment of that policy is music to my ears. I believe...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to again express my philosophical different path than the Minister on this. I understand that this special warrant was needed because at the beginning of the forest fire season we had quite a few fires and we overspent our budget almost right off the bat. Again, I have to wonder why we budget a base amount that is fully used just to mobilize our forces to fight one or two fires. It would seem to me that we’d be far better off to go to a bit more realistic estimate of the number, in my perspective. Again I have to ask if we’re budgeting on actuals, although I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m trying to understand the philosophy and the rationale for the budgeting here. The Minister advised that they budget on actuals. I’m looking at figures provided to back up this request. I’m looking at an actual deficit in 2008-2009 of almost $2.8 million. Yet it would seem that in 2009-2010 we did not bump up our actual expenditures, because we’re still short by $3.6 million. So from $2.8 million to $3.6 million, that’s $800,000. That’s not bad, but I would like to know, I guess, from the Minister if he could tell me what we budgeted in 2009-2010 for medical travel...

The Minister and I have discussed the philosophy before and I have to disagree with him. I’m not so sure that funding to an unrealistic level is going to provide any more accountability than funding to a realistic level and then forcing our staff to keep to that expenditure limit.

I don’t see much accountability when before us sits a supplementary appropriation for $3.6 million for last year, $3.2 million anticipated for this year. I don’t really see how this is providing accountability in this particular aspect of our Supplementary Health Program expenditures.

I did want to ask another question...