Bill Braden

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It's my pleasure today to read into the record the report of the Accountability and Oversight committee of the review of the Report of the Auditor General on the Workers' Compensation of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight held its public reviews on the Report of the Auditor General on the Workers’ Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut from June 28 to 30, 2006, and on September 20, 2006. The committee was pleased that Mr. Keith Peterson, a Member of the Nunavut...

Thank you. That will do for now, Mr. Chairman.

Okay. So then the bill does not either restrict or enable this kind of thing to happen. It's simply silent on this aspect of dispensing drugs, Mr. Chairman. It's silent.

Mr. Chairman, I know one of the big intentions of revising this act was to reduce the paperwork, streamline the requirements that we had in previous laws making it easier on the tourism operator and I dare say on the government, the administrators, who didn’t have so much of this stuff to keep track of. Has this act resulted in a tangible and marked decrease in the paper burden, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a bill that I am heartily speaking in favour of, heartily, heartily in favour of. The tourism industry is something that I and my family have had some connection with over a good number of years. The operators and the people who are involved in it deserve every bit of support and encouragement that we can give them. It’s a very distinct lifestyle, a very interesting and challenging way to make a living. It can be immensely satisfying but, in the meantime, there are issues that tourism entrepreneurs face that are perhaps unlike many others in the private...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Of the 39 claimants diagnosed with chronic pain, how many are now receiving permanent or temporary benefits for chronic pain?

Of the 23 injured workers who have returned to work, how many returned to the kind of work and pay that they had before being diagnosed? Do any have outstanding claims for compensation for chronic pain?

If an injured worker declines to participate in training or pain management programs, what criteria does WCB use to terminate or adjust their benefits?

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister advise on the adequacy of staffing at the North Slave Correctional Centre and the training of our staff? This is in relation to complaints and concerns that I received, Mr. Speaker, that there is often communication difficulties, inconsistency with communications, and inadequacy and shortcomings in the delivery of programs for inmates, programs relating to addictions, literacy, school and these kinds of things, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon, I would like to ask the Honourable Brendan Bell some questions regarding the performance of, and at, the North Slave Correctional Centre, and specifically regarding some of the conditions in which some inmates are managed there, Mr. Speaker. One of the things I encountered in talking to a couple of inmates was their frustration at not being able to find out just what their situation was and when they felt that there was something that they just could not get resolved, some difficulties, some discrepancy, some conflict between them and their supervisors...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In 2004, at the insistence of this Assembly, a human resource review was undertaken at the North Slave correction facility, Mr. Speaker. This plan tells us that there is, or should, be a strong focus at the North Slave Correctional Centre shifting from a penal or punishment approach to one of healing and rehabilitation of inmates. This is a very positive step, but from some things that I’ve heard from some inmates, constituents, over the course of the past few months, from what I’ve heard, Mr. Speaker, we’re not there yet.

Mr. Speaker, it appears that adequate staffing at...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.