Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past spring I had the opportunity to speak with Chief Peter Marcellais and a number of councillors and band managers about building a youth wellness camp near the community of Nahanni Butte and the proposed Canadian Zinc mine. The community was very excited about the potential of building a youth camp, not only for their youth but for the youth of the whole region.

The community looked at going through the Government of the Northwest Territories to build this camp. The community felt, going to the government, it would take years before the camp was a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the issue is the ministerial policy on Medical Travel Benefits. I was directed to Section 6 provisions for clarification on benefits of approved non-medical escorts. Mr. Speaker, nowhere in the policy does it state that past the certain age a person requires an escort, nor does following up with our HSS System Navigator looking for help if the people are not computer literate.

Mr. Speaker, we were very lucky that these three elders made it home safe and sound thanks to staff and people working together, and I'm thankful for that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of this motion, as well. What I found really interesting  I supported this program since I first heard about it, and I had the pleasure of attending their session last night and we were able to get a whole bunch more information to help us understand even further the importance of it. I was a former JP, so I understood what emergency protection orders were and why that was important, and that was prevention, stopping it. Well, here's a great program that is all about prevention.

The Government of the Northwest Territories states that A New...

I thank the Member for that answer. Maybe we can get together so I can get that information and we can share it with people. It's just not people that need it or want it, you should be able to provide that quick knowledge beforehand.

Mr. Speaker, in my previous statements I talked about Fort Nelson Hospital as a first place for residents of the Hamlet of Fort Liard to go and set up residence going to Fort Simpson then to Yellowknife. I realize it's only a three or four-hour trip to Fort Simpson depending on the ferry and only a two-hour drive, but however it's only a two-hour drive to Fort...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I spoke about medical travel and some of the issues I had to deal with this past week with medical travel and the policy. First of all, I would like to thank the staff. The patients were able to work with the staff given the numbers and they worked really well together, so I thank them for that. However, Mr. Speaker, this question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister please advise this House if his department is looking at the Medical Travel Policy as it pertains to ensuring that anyone over the age of 65 has a non...

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm going to speak about medical travel policy. This past week, I have been dealing with three different medical travel issues. Each issue involved individual patients over the age of 65. Mr. Speaker, the first patient had to move from a small community to a major center because of medical challenges their family was facing. Recently, this individual had to go out for medical travel. Because of the move, this individual does not have the support system in this community.

Mr. Speaker, to make matters worse, this patient was informed that non-medical...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the Minister for that answer. It's great to hear. So we're waiting for negotiations in Alberta, but it still doesn't help the residents of Fort Liard. So will the Minister give us a timeline when he expects to talk to the BC government, so that the residents of Fort Liard can be prepared to get service in BC? Closer service, I should say, because it's great service in Simpson and Yellowknife; it's just the distance. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister for his answer. I guess we're talking to two different people or different people out there because the people that are coming to me with issues are over the age of 65 and say they want to have a medical escort, and some of the challenges that I understand with the Minister saying, however we need to work with our seniors and our elders because when they come to us they should be treated with respect. However, I'm going to go onto my next question 'cause instead of arguing we could spend days on this issue together.

Mr. Speaker, last sitting I spoke about patience from...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I believe this will be the last question, unless he gives me a different answer. Is this going out to contract or is this going to be done by the local staff? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll try to move on to Highway No. 7. Could the Minister give a little bit more elaboration on what's happening on Highway No. 7? That's from Checkpoint to the B.C. border. Thank you, Mr. Chair.