Bill Braden

Thank you. One or two items further on this page, Mr. Chair, $180,000 of provision for some contamination recovery at the old swimming pool site in Fort Providence. Mr. Chair, I am wondering if this is the end of this story. Are we potentially gearing up for something that is going to have additional costs, Mr. Chair?

Mr. Chair, not to sound mean spirited here, but do we put any onus at all, or any part of the responsibility or cost, however accidental it may be, on the people who own these houses or who have lost property? I think, as I heard the Minister say, we are shouldering 100 percent. Does that include the contents? For instance, vehicles, snow machines, boats or anything else that was lost? Are we still picking up 100 percent of that loss, Mr. Chair?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under this order of the day last year, I talked about the way this Assembly had been conducting its budgetary business up to that point. Something that was a problem for me, and I wanted to see how we could address it, was the relative secrecy by which this Assembly goes about building its budgetary plans, business plans for the departments. I say relative secrecy compared to the way most other jurisdictions in Canada do this, Mr. Speaker, especially through the committee process.

Our committees here in our Legislature, and this is by our collective consensus, have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am well aware that Health and Social Services is the department with the single most pieces of legislation under its watch. The modernization of this act is not a small piece of work. It is going to require a lot of consultation across a lot of fields. It is important that we start this work, even if it is not something that is going to be achievable in the length of this Assembly. Would the Minister commit to at least considering starting the consultation process, working toward the rewrite of this act perhaps in the next Assembly, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you. I guess I will take that one as notice, then, until the report comes out, Mr. Speaker.

On the clinical side of this question, my colleague from Hay River South told us, when she addressed this issue a couple of days ago, that 36 percent of our hospital admissions are for mental health and addictions related causes. Mr. Speaker, are we adequately resourced in our hospitals and clinics to deal with this disturbing and substantial problem in admissions and care in our hospital system? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As Mental Health Week comes to a close, I would like to bring to the attention of this House the concerns of many families and the victims of mental illness and professionals involved in health care service about the suitability of our own Mental Health Act. The NWT’s act was passed in 1988, Mr. Speaker. Today, it is clinically, administratively and perhaps even from a human rights point of view, significantly behind the times.

In most other jurisdictions, the foundation of mental health legislation has moved from the concept of where a victim of mental illness may be a...

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?