Bill Braden

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada recently pointed out to the Joint Review Panel that there is indeed a regulatory gap for the jurisdiction and the management of the project on these lands. Is the Minister’s department or some agency of the GNWT actively working this file with municipal, aboriginal and federal agencies to close this regulatory gap, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for Mr. McLeod, the Minister of the Environment, related to our regulatory regime for environmental management, Mr. Speaker. As we well know, mega development means mega consequences. Just look at Alberta and its tar sands. I believe they are the single largest contributor to greenhouse gasses in the country. Here in the NWT, we are on the cusp of something of a similar size. The government can do many things when it comes to environmental management. One of them is having a sound process to make sure that everybody plays by the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Unchecked global warming will devastate the global economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, according to a major British report released today that seeks to quantify the costs and benefits of action as well as inaction. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said of the report, it is not in doubt that if the science is right that consequences for our planet are literally disastrous. This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime. Unless we act now, these consequences, disastrous as they are, will be...

So, Mr. Speaker, could the Minister advise the House what is the timeline before us now as regards the relocation of this program? We've obviously seen considerable delays in the decision-making about this. In the meantime, the families and the staff are wondering what's going on, and so am I, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as we continue then to go along without a facility for these people and at least in the given future, there is certainly a desperate need now for these people and their families to provide home care, day programs, support for this extremely debilitating and devastating situation in their lives. Is our government going to look at establishing and enabling more of this kind of support to go along at least until we have a facility able to care for them, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, what is it going to take to convince the government that this is not something that can continue to be sidelined? The costs of providing care for these people in facilities that are not designed for it is, that is a very real aspect of the fiscal side of this, plus the impact on these people and their families. Mr. Speaker, what else is there in this whole agenda that the government needs to see that will convince it that this must be treated as a priority and not an option?

Mahsi and good morning, Mr. Speaker. As our population ages, the occurrence and incidence of Alzheimer’s and other dementia syndromes is going to increase, Mr. Speaker, and so will the demands on our families, our communities and, of course, our health care institutions, to deal with this in a way that is not only adequate but helps give these people the dignity and the quality of life even as this terrible disease robs them of just about every memory and ability to cope that they have.

Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that, again, as more and more of us get older and older, almost one in 10 of us...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So having access, then, to the health care plan lists, of course there's the aspect of security in there and the protection of people's actual health care records. To what extent, Mr. Chairman, is that information protected from any outside source, of course, including the courts? What are the provisions for security and protection of privacy for those lists, Mr. Chairman?

My question is for the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board.

On October 23rd, in response to Question 162-15(5), the chronic pain policy, the Minister responsible for the WCB advised that there would be consultations on this very important issue.

When will this consultation take place?

What groups or interests will be consulted?

Will the Minister provide a copy of questions, which will be the basis for the consultation process?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay. So we still don't know exactly what the government's plans are with this, Mr. Speaker. I think in our deliberations on this, we had originally started out with a budget of $3.2 million and I’m wondering if the Minister can assure the Assembly that even after all these delays and the costs of inflation and things in construction, are we still going to be able to see this project achieved for that budgeted amount, Mr. Speaker?