Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, I can obviously see there is an excellent jousting match going on today. I will send one back. The Minister is correct; I am impatient because safety is at risk here. I wish he would realize that too. Mr. Speaker, consultation, we have to talk, we have to talk, we have to talk. We have eight out of 11 regions that are addressing this issue. I am not sure what more studying the Minister needs to do other than the fact that do we need to make a particular type of legislation that reflects northern values but still keeps safety in mind? Mr. Speaker, what signal is the Minister...

Apparently, I should say I hurt the Minister’s feeling over there. I didn’t realize he was all sensitive about this and maybe the job is too big for him...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today there’s still no cell phone ban legislation before this Assembly. There’s not even a legislative proposal coming forward that I’m aware of or anyone’s aware of, that I know. Mr. Speaker, the Minister still refuses to make the call on this issue. I’m not sure why; perhaps maybe just being stubborn. Mr. Speaker, the Minister’s leadership on this issue is so far behind I couldn’t even call him Johnny-come-lately. He just doesn’t care.

Mr. Speaker, I was watching TV the other day and Oprah Winfrey has even weighed in on this issue and she’s set up a blog...

Mr. Chairman, I didn’t really hear much about how they have been used and how many hours they have been used. I would also like to reiterate that question in that context as well as what specific services have we noticed a trend emerging from our usage on this type of product. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, does the Minister know how many of the 14 units are used and how often these 14 telehealth units are used? Furthermore, whom are they used by? Are they used just by Health or are they used by other departments in some conjunction agreement?

Thank you for clarifying which page my specific question would be on. Seeing how it is related, I’d like to continue. What is the present formula that causes us to get $21 million for that type of care in this particular budget cycle? What type of inflationary factors are built in? As I understand it, the territorial government services cost more than we’re being paid. In other words, did we put in a particular figure and did the federal government respond with a particular figure and, of course, what would that figure be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under revenue summary, I’m just curious as to finding out what particular money is built into this bottom line here that emphasizes the money paid to us through our NIHB figures. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, with the budget before us some things sort of pop out and I’m certainly pleased to see the evolution of our downtown clinic. Through this budget it will help support that. Our budget also supports the soon to be opening dementia centre, which is excellent news and I think it is a step forward in the treatment of people with this chronic ailment. It’s certainly a good thing to see that we have a facility that’s up to date with an appropriate way of helping people through this problem. The day shelter, there will be funding for the day shelter or drop-in...

Thank you considerably for that excellent answer. That’s the type of information I was trying to get at: what do we provide for weight loss assistance or support for people with diabetes? Again, this is one of the areas a constituent of mine has been denied on the basis that it would be offered locally. I’d like to know what area that that would be new for this coming year. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the willingness or the lack of willingness that the Minister shows interest on this particular issue beyond the fact he turns around and says I understand the concern, but I am sure $250 makes people worry. Well, Mr. Speaker, it is about upping the ante and sending the correct message that needs to be sent, Mr. Speaker. All we have to do is have the ticket submitted to our process, change a regulation so it reflects that. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister show some national leadership on this particular issue and step forward and say we will see if we could find a...