Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are no doctors in those facilities. The doctors are at Stanton Territorial facility. It’s there where people are sent from all over the Northwest Territories. This Minister is completely ignoring that fact and the desperate need here. Those other facilities are not brimming over. This facility is facing, really, a critical situation -- a quick tour behind the scenes and even her own staff will tell her that -- even comparing to other facilities that we have. So I ask again, Mr. Speaker, what effort is the Minister taking to actually get some work on...

Perhaps I’m not speaking clearly. I asked how long the Minister estimates it will take for planning, budgeting and construction to take so that facility is where we need it. How long? When can we expect that to be in place?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to recognize today Chief Edward Sangris and Grand Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene Nation. Also many of the people and councillors, some of the people I see are Bertha Mackenzie, Ernie Abel, Sarah Plotner, Angela Charlo, John Carter, Kelly Cumming, Leanne Erasmus, and others from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Lee Mandeville I see is here. Colin Crozier, Dave Kellett, and many people interested in the important issues before us.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There were a number of things in the opening remarks from the Minister that I appreciated. One of them -- no surprise -- is the extra dollars going towards early childhood and family literacy. I think there still seems to be a focus on the kindergarten and up sort of age groups and I’m hoping, ultimately, we will focus that more and more to the earliest years. But that’s good to see.

The $1.3 million towards promoting attendance is a good response, I think, to what has been highlighted as a major concern. I think it’s been noted that kids actually miss a couple years of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to go on record as supporting this motion right off the bat here.

Just the other evening I was reading George Blondin’s book about Yamoria. There’s a chapter in there where he talks about how the elders had to advise the people to not hunt the caribou so strongly, because deep snows and a summer that never happened led to bad condition on the caribou and they were very vulnerable to hunting. The elders got together and said we’ve got to hold off. In fact, they even fed the caribou to help the caribou to get through that winter.

Now, I don’t think we...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister is being quite modest in her estimates. I would say, at the rate we’re going, the pace the Minister is setting, we will be talking a decade or longer. This is totally unacceptable for this territorial facility, which is brimming over and desperately crying out for action. Everyone knows the territorial facility is overdue. Given that the Minister recognizes this need, what effort is she putting in to pushing to get this process shortened in an exception to the normal planning process? Everybody in this room, in this House, understands this is needed. Will the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on my Member’s statement and ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, given that we were lined up for major capital work on Stanton Hospital but have now let that opportunity slide, how long will the planning, budgeting and construction process take, in her estimation, to get what is needed in place, major redevelopment? When will that be actually in place?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m rising today to speak to the urgent need to expand the incredibly stressed facilities at Stanton Territorial Hospital. There is a significant capacity issue and overall care may be at risk, especially in areas such as emergency, intensive care and medical daycare. These are some of the most critical services our hospital provides. The overall volume and workload has grown substantially over the years.

The Standing Committee on Social Programs has recently toured the hospital and saw for ourselves the desperate overcrowding and lack of facilities to deliver existing...

Page 8-39, information item, work performed on behalf of others, continued, $20.26 million. Agreed?

Mr. Speaker, if we were a business, we would have gone out of business long ago with this sort of performance. The department has been informed of this incident and promised prompt action, but we need to do better for all our customers. I will be asking questions later about improving our general service delivery. Mahsi.