Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I would like to just offer my condolences to all the parents and family members who have lost a small child, an infant or even a preterm baby.

I do rise in support of the motion. It sheds light on many different issues here, first being that this government supports the promotion of healthy pregnancies and takes into consideration not only the role of the mother but the role of the father, as well, and any other family members that might be involved.

In some of my previous job positions, I worked in health promotion for quite a number of years. I remember...

Thank you. Another issue that we’re having with the Medical Travel Policy here is the amount of time it takes for an individual to get approval for their travel, for their appointments and the amount of time when they do have an appointment, they’re usually given sometimes last minute notice – a day, not even two days, sometimes even the same day – that they’ve got an approval to go on travel. This also results in some of the no-shows that we have, this government has taken in as debt because of people not showing up to their appointments.

Has there been any update or any upgrades to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to the Medical Travel Policy. I guess my first question would be: Does the department have a point of contract or an NWT coordinator or regional coordinator for anybody that’s travelling to either Edmonton or Yellowknife for medical treatment or appointments to contact, should they be travelling on the weekend, say a Saturday or Sunday, and needs some information? It might even be late at night and somebody could give them assistance so they can get back to their home town, back into their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government provides a very critical service to residents of the Northwest Territories and that service is medical travel. In my short time being an MLA and listening to a lot of the concerns that residents of the Northwest Territories have, especially in my region of the Inuvik region and constituents of mine that travel to either Edmonton or to Yellowknife, there are still concerns with this medical travel. I wanted to bring the point to order today on what is all provided in this medical travel. One of the things that were brought to my attention is return...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also have questions today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regard to my opening Member’s statement on the Peel River watershed and the Peel River itself. I want to ask the Minister what is the department’s position in this cause to protect the Peel. What is the department’s position on this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Good job.

It is the considered opinion of the Standing Committee on Social Programs that the bill is a reasonable first step in the NWT’s efforts to prevent bullying. However, it cannot be the last step. In fact, committee members expected more and so do residents of our territory. Further work must address the root causes of bullying.

It is significant that Bill 12 does not amend the Education Act to prohibit bullying outright. This surprised some students. In Inuvik, for example, one said, “It should be law. It’s wrong.” It is hard to argue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the past number of years, the Gwich’in people of the Inuvik region as well as other Aboriginal groups throughout the Yukon Territory have been fighting to get the Peel River and the Peel River watershed protected. Earlier this week in the news, we saw that the MP for the Northwest Territories tabled a bill in the House of Commons to try to get that Peel River and Peel River watershed protected.

This ecosystem is an integral component to the survival of the Gwich’in people’s way of life, their traditions and their culture. I am of Gwich’in descent and I have seen the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Justices of the Peace Act, on September 17, 2013. A clause-by-clause review was conducted the same day.

The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. The bill provides justices of the peace for the protection from civil liability so long as they do not act maliciously and without reasonable and probable cause.

Following the committee’s review, a motion was carried to report Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Justices of the Peace Act, to the Assembly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Education Act, and wishes to report that Bill 12 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I guess the Minister pretty well summed up most of the questions that I was going to ask him.

In terms of this meeting, is there a timeline that’s been specified on when this meeting will happen, because there’s a lot of interested groups, not only the Gwich’in people, but there’s a lot of interested groups that are supporting this campaign. Can the Minister please let me know when this meeting might be taking place if there’s a timeline for that? Thank you.