Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome David Brock, a resident of Weledeh, to the House today.

Do we typically have staff lawyers? What would the component be that we have on staff?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 5, 2012, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories inform the federal government of our dissatisfaction both with the dismantling of the federal environmental protection regime and with the federal government’s failure to consult and inform this government on changes directly affecting our interests, the ensured integrity of our environment and the content of devolution negotiations that are currently underway;

And further, that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister, I think, is correct, according to the information I have. Stanton is the highest at 20 percent, but there are others that are high, as well, and the trend of all of them is to go up from five to 20 times the percentages over the last four years.

I’d still like clarity on what the lines of authority are for dealing with this. Is it that the Minister has no authority or thinks he has no authority? What is he doing to exert his responsibility, as the Minister, to get training programs in place that result in the sorts of progress that we want to see?

Thank you. Actually, the hospital is relatively low compared to those authorities that don’t have hospitals, but the Department of Health may not exercise individual operational control of the health authority, but perhaps they do. However, ultimately we must hold the Minister responsible for their funding and oversight. So, obviously, the substantial failures here in reducing claims experience have a negative consequence of large penalties that the GNWT must pay.

Can the Minister confirm that helping the authorities control these costs is not only in the interest of but ultimately the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Linnea Stephenson today, a Page from Weledeh.

I’d also like to recognize the work of all of our Pages and express my thanks to them. Linnea I’m sure can be found at the Snow Show at the Yellowknife Ski Club this Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In June I received a response to my written and other questions to the Ministers responsible for the WSCC and Human Resources. They revealed the extent of penalties we pay for failed safety programs and claims payments, but they also reveal core management issues that need to be addressed.

In July we paid over $500,000 in penalties for exceptional claims and safety management practices last year, with another large penalty expected this year. Looking at the departmental safety and claims records over the past four years, improvements in positive trends are evident for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. I’m still shaking my head over this $6 million and now we have to go discuss it with a bunch of people on whether to make this operational or not, given the demands on our infrastructure dollars. I’m shaking my head.

My last question is: Are other regions in the NWT in the same situation as this Fort Smith facility? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. Indeed, it is a principle to try and place people as close to home as possible, obviously, when we have a facility, but no way of operating it that’s not happening. So I appreciate the Minister is going to do something about this. My next question is when? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to just note that many of my constituents work on behalf of elders across the Northwest Territories, and certainly many of them and many of our NWT seniors are concerned about the lack of dementia facilities and services, particularly in the small communities.

So I’d like to start by asking the Minister when will full dementia facilities be available in small community health facilities across the NWT. Thank you.