Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Once the lands are identified to be offered for lease to people wishing to build cabins, they must be allocated in a transparent and fair fashion. One method proposed is through ballot draws. Another is to auction them off to the highest bidder.

Once these lands have been identified for offer to the public for leasing, what equitable and clear process does the Minister propose to allocate them? Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. Many constituents are concerned that recreational leases are now being let without this vital planning tool to guide the process. The current leasing process is not seen as clear, consistent or sustainable, and they would like to see a hold on all leases until the rules are in place.

Will the Minister commit to extending the moratorium currently in place to all new recreational land use requests in the NWT, or at least to the islands in Yellowknife Bay, so valuable for public use and desirable for cabin leases, until the new policy is in place?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess that means that will be happening the year following. I appreciated the Minister’s response, although I couldn’t hear an answer to whether we’re ever going to realize some efficiencies from the massive amounts of work and investment that we put into approving our medical travel.

I saw lots of activity, I heard about lots of activity, but I didn’t hear a response to when are we going to realize some efficiency. We’ve invested hugely in putting teleconferencing into every community and training. We’ve been sure they’re being used and so on. We’ve got doctors on call...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Developing a fair recreational land leasing policy is challenging and of considerable interest to our public. The Minister of Lands is holding public meetings to gather public input, and I have heard that from constituents who attended the meetings in Yellowknife last week. They report their experience was positive, with 35 to 50 people attending each. The World Café format seemed constructive, with facilitators at five different tables guiding participants through five different questions. Thanks to the Minister for holding these meetings. I look forward to hearing the...

Thank you. I guess we’ll watch the supps. Just on the medical travel, what’s the explanation for the $3 million decrease previous year and this year and the $5 million increase between this year and the one year under discussion here?

Thanks to the Minister again. I appreciate the Minister taking the initiative to put those monitoring actions in place. I know the Minister is aware that there have been some very serious events in there and the emergency department with a few injuries that are both physical and mental and some longer lasting than others. Many believe that there is insufficient support from non-nursing staff, particularly security that people at the hospital, simply because they don’t have the training and the direction. What does the Minister have planned in the order of responding to those needs? Thank you.

Thanks for the Minister’s response there. I’ll look forward to when he can give me a positive response to that question. When I say Yellowknife, I include Ndilo and Detah, obviously, and I’m happy to see that we’re moving towards a territorial approach.

My other questions were with respect to the psychiatric nursing unit at Stanton and the training that staff there have for physical restraint when it’s needed to deal with the potential for violence and injury. Are staff trained for physical restraint and how frequent are the incidents of violence in the psychiatric nursing unit at Stanton? I...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciated that exchange. Just a couple more questions on that. Obviously, the Minister knows the Yellowknife program was pulled because there were insufficient midwifes. One person could not do it. Ms. Bisaro was asking about one position. Obviously, we would need a team of midwives dedicated to Yellowknife, so I hope that will be a focus of the discussion when that’s appropriate. It sounds like it’s coming up soon.

I know the Minister is aware that there is a very committed bunch of midwifery, I’m not sure I would say activists as active in the promotion, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 6 on the Order Paper, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, February 23, 2015, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services clarify procedures for Stanton Territorial Hospital employees to follow when violent incidents occur, including procedures expressly for the use of physical restraint in these cases;

And further, that the Department of Health and Social Services direct Stanton Territorial Hospital management to hire security personnel with...