Bill Braden

Mr. Chairman, under community health programs just shy of a half million dollars is identified for contributions to additional costs associated with the increased number of children receiving services under the Child and Family Services Act and to providing services for children in southern facilities due to an increase in the number of placements. This is quite a…It’s a lot of money on its own and I’m wondering if the Minister could give us some idea in terms of percentage or ratio this, as I say, almost half a million dollars, how much of an increment is this in what was forecasted for this...

Mr. Speaker, I believe we do have a way of building something like this into our ongoing budget. It is called forced growth. We do it all the time. We are going to be dealing with it later on today, I believe, when we consider the supplementary appropriation bill. This is something that I would be very much in support of considering if the Minister’s department or, in fact, others that deal with NGOs, feel that it could be warranted, to offer our partner NGOs an increment for salary and wages. Would the Minister consider using forced growth as a way of providing these NGOs with some wage...

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Mr. Murray. One of the big challenges that agencies which are familiar with performing or delivering this service here in Yellowknife have indicated, that to expect a similar level or calibre of service can also be delivered in Hay River is quite an expectation. This is not a slight at all against Hay River, Mr. Chair. It is simply a matter of looking at the different scales of economy, the size of communities, the levels of professional caregivers that are here in this city, and other duties that could not be supported in a much smaller community such as Hay River...

Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. That’s all for now.

Madam Chair, thank you. A bit earlier in this current fiscal year, 2004-5, 2005-06, we were able to flow $1 million, which came from the federal government, into the planning for a dementia facility here in Yellowknife. This was in cooperation with the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors. It was a very welcome bit of funding work. Now, there has been also quite a bit of work going on to look into the state of facilities, of care facilities for seniors in other parts of the territory, as well, Madam Chair, in the last few months. This was all with the expectation that we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have written questions for two Ministers. The first set, Mr. Speaker, is for Minister Bell as the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment and they relate to the Diamond Strategy of this government.

Is the newly announced marketing venture with the diamond cutting/polishing/jewellery manufacturers a partnership, and how much money will each party contribute?

What are the objectives and tasks of this strategy, and will the department be reporting results to the Assembly on a regular basis?

Well, we have been put on notice again to the Chalmers report. Mr. Speaker, our Mental Health Act is, I discussed in my Member’s statement, a piece of legislation that is badly out of date in accordance with professional, legal and administrative standards. An impression that I have been given is if we can modernize this, we are not only going to be able to give people better care and do it quicker, we are also going to be saving a lot of human resources and money. Would the Minister advise that we will see the modernization and updating of our mental health legislation during the life of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this morning will be for Mr. Miltenberger as the Minister of Health and Social Services. They relate to the field of mental health services and legislation in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the Social Programs committee, in its report to the Assembly, referred to the pre-budget consultations that were held last fall in a number of communities. I will paraphrase, Mr. Speaker. The report told us that there is not a lot of buy-in at the local level for the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. Anecdotally, Members were told there is a real disconnect between...

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I'm very familiar with the Minister's confidence, and I share with him the confidence of a large majority of the people who are needed, and trained and committed to the care of children. But the exception, as the Minister pointed out, is amongst the more sophisticated, if you will, psychological and medical and clinical services. Yes, the Minister is quite right; it is potentially only a half-hour plane ride from Yellowknife, but there's a lot more involved than sort of transporting people back and forth on airplanes.

So let's park that one there. We're hoping and I'm...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the most difficult times that I have experienced in this Legislature occurred in the matter under this department and this Minister’s jurisdiction, and that was the surprise decision to move the Territorial Treatment Centre from Yellowknife to another community. Mr. Chair, this one hurt because it was something of great significance in my riding and to this city. It was an action that the government, after considerable review and investigation, went ahead with, by its own admission, for political purposes, against the clinical program, psychological and...