Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, I want to specifically note and highlight the fact that the Minister didn’t mention chiropractic or massage therapists. I am not suggesting it isn’t in his list before him. With that said, would the Minister be willing to provide a detailed list as to whom they have spent time consulting with and when? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement today, I talked about the need for regulation and certainly legislation for the areas of chiropractic and massage therapy. There are a number of groups out there that have this request, such as naturopaths as well. There seems to be some consensus built around chiropractic and massage therapists that legislation could come in and we could develop some regulations to provide some public assurance that the government is watching and making sure that our citizens are protected. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. What...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of organizations representing health professionals in the Northwest Territories continue to ask for regulation of their sector. They continue, primarily, to come knock on the government’s door as opposed to the government telling them that they should be regulated, and that certainly needs to be noted.

Who am I talking about? The chiropractic and massage therapy groups are certainly leading and becoming champions on this particular issue, because they feel it’s very important to have clear regulations that protect themselves and our public.

It’s becoming very...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next big question to this is: Will there be any type of public discussion or development of any type of decision paper to move forward on this particular initiative? If there will be, when can we expect some detail on that particular initiative? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that is good news. From the Minister I would like to find out which professionals or particular areas is he studying and considering for inclusion in this particular bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour always to recognize the Honourable Anthony W.J. Whitford, who is a friend of many and he’s looking fantastic. As our colleague Mr. Dolynny said, he is a survivor of cancer. I have seen him with a great spring in his step lately. It’s nice to see the old Tony back.

First off, I’m really grateful for the deputy minister’s comment, which is like any other project, there are claims. It’s not unusual that projects like this have claims or disagreements. It’s probably considered a standard of any particular major project to have claims. Why wouldn’t we continue on with the project and sort the claims out like in normal circumstances that happen in most other projects?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister when we will get those particular details. Of course, we are running short of session days and it would be useful for both myself and the public to get these questions out in a timely manner. That’s simply the question. When can we get it? Can we get it before Monday?

Madam Chair, this is not about hindsight. We are actually at the deciding point. I am not sure the Minister wants to talk about the project as a broader issue. I agree with everything he said when he spoke to it as a broad issue, is recap, revisit, analyze, et cetera, but the issue of the $10 million is a $10 million decision today. The decision should come with some deciding points. The deciding points are based on the fundamentals as I had asked, which was, has the government consciously chosen to ignore Ruskin’s responsibilities to fulfill its contract. That is the question.