Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this survey noted that 26 percent of the doctors are scaling back their service in the next few years. Mr. Speaker, only four percent are looking at increasing the service. Historically doctors have been known to work 70 and 80 hours per week, whereas now they are working barely 50. Mr. Speaker, what is the department doing? I would like to hear a concrete plan of what they are doing as an action plan to bring new doctors to the Northwest Territories, recognizing that 60 percent are scaling back and 3,800 are potentially retiring within two years across...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll say thank you, Mr. Minister, for that commitment. Mr. Speaker, I’ll ask for one more commitment from the Minister responsible for Housing in which he did refer to private industry being able to access a pot of funds or a pot of money in order to allow social housing to happen in private buildings. Will he commit to investigate the possibility of applying that policy to anyone who accesses this funding to have those folks in their buildings? Will he commit to seeing that that policy can apply to them as well as in the private industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister is saying about 194 people in our housing. Mr. Speaker, what I’m looking for is a firm commitment on national guidelines, something that is clear cut. Can the Minister commit today that his department will create a policy, be it a booklet or whatever, on national standards and this can be applied to all of our social housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to speak about my concerns about the territorial government not having a formal policy in dealing with social housing with people with disabilities. Mr. Speaker, I happened to go back to the transcripts and I noted that for some reason that slipped through my fingers during question period, and so I will be raising that concern with much stronger diligence this time.

Mr. Speaker, I had asked the Minister at that time about where our policy is, and I still don’t see us having a policy and I’m afraid that got missed. So, Mr. Speaker, I have to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a good answer by the Minister, I’ll say. Mr. Speaker, why are we not looking at setting up a territorial facility to take care of all of the people that we ship out to Edmonton with regard to this situation that I’ve raised with the Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s answer there. That was very clear on this side. Mr. Speaker, my concern is that I’m afraid we’re abandoning these people. Mr. Speaker, my concern is that we’re spending $1,500 a day through different types of placements. We’re spending $1 million a year to no end to treat these people. Are we bringing these people home eventually? Are we taking care of our people? What is the Minister doing to bring these folks home to the Northwest Territories where they belong? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during May of this year, there was a bit of a crisis with persons with severe developmental disabilities in Edmonton who are Northwest Territories citizens. Mr. Speaker, referring back to that crisis, it was about accreditation and some suggestion of abuse. Would the Minister of Health and Social Services be able to update us on that problem that occurred then and what his department has done to solve that crisis? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister raises a couple good points about the book and the 1-800 number and he’s probably very right that they do serve a purpose, because I’ve even used the book and I haven’t had the pleasure of using the 1-800 number yet, but they are services. But, Mr. Speaker, the book has been out for at least two years and the 1-800 number service has been out since the spring of this year. Mr. Speaker, we are still dealing with six and eight-hour waiting periods. Mr. Speaker, I can’t refer to it too much, but there is a survey being done by this hospital at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be to the Minister of Health and Social Services and I will refer back to my Member’s statement as I’ve said earlier with my concerns about the waiting period. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is what is the Department of Health and Social Services doing about waiting times and what are they doing to supply reasonable tools for those staff who work there in the emergency room and I consider, at this time, human resources important tools to get the job done? What is the Minister doing about this problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to talk about the waiting times in the emergency rooms and our clinics in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I’ve heard that you can wait three to four days if you’re absolutely lucky to get into an appointment at a clinic. You’re lucky to find a spot. Normally you have to wait two, three, and even sometimes four weeks to get an appointment with the doctor in one of those clinics. That’s, of course, again, if you’re lucky enough to have a family doctor. Mr. Speaker, at this time, clinics offer you suggestions, if it’s a high priority, to march on down to the...