Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be happy to ensure that this item gets placed on the agenda for the social envelope Ministers. We have a committee that meets on a regular basis and I will work with my colleagues to ensure that we have a coordinated approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had received an e-mail message from one of those groups suggesting that very thing. It is certainly something that could be considered. Typically the past practice of this in our government has been that pan-territorial organizations are consulted, but that doesn’t mean that other nominees can’t be considered. So, yes, I guess we could consider any nominee that comes in from the business community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I will request the governance council to consider that situation or that position and ask that they, at their next meeting, consider it. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, this is not a draft policy at this point. It was adopted by the governance council in 2004 and I would point out that the governance council is made up of stakeholders from the people in the Northwest Territories. Business representatives, employer representatives, employee representatives make up the governance council. The answer to the direct question is, yes, I will make sure the Member and all Members get copies of the policy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the time this case was taken to the courts and the policy that applied to the case goes back to before there was a clear policy in place from the WCB. The WCB has, since the Martin case in the Atlantic provinces in 2004, adopted a policy around chronic pain. What they have done since adopting that policy is direct their council to approach the courts to ensure that that policy is in compliance with the Charter and all court decisions. They have committed, at their most recent meeting, to revise the policy if anything is found wanting in it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think everybody’s been recognized except for one person. I’d like to recognize a close friend, Ms. Janet Marshall, who is one of the instructors with the course.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have the funds identified in the budget that we’ve just passed in order to do a special project like that, but I’m certainly prepared to advance this. I agree with the Member that it’s an area that needs to be dealt with and I am looking to try and deal with it through the business planning process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member and I had some discussion about this last fall and I would agree with the Member that there is a gap in our policies right now wherein living allowances are not provided for people who are looking at adult basic education, adults who may want to upgrade. I believe my commitment at the time was through the next business planning cycle that I would attempt to see if we could not approve the supports. Mr. Speaker, that business planning cycle starts for the government in June and I would hope that by that time I would be able to advance this proposal and see...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly hope that we don’t see these businesses go down. I enjoy being able to access the services and products that they provide as much as anybody else. Mr. Speaker, just as insurance on a car is a cost of doing business, so is insurance for your employees. I’ve probably put $60,000 or $70,000 more into the pockets of insurance companies than I’ve ever claimed back for my car and I think that we’re going to have to recognize that there are costs to doing business. I’d be happy to, as I said, direct the governance council to consider this. I think all of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off I would like to point out that everybody in the Northwest Territories, every employer in the Territories has typically seen an increase over the past three or four years. Until 2003, because of good investments, the accident fund was what was called over funded. The governance council thought that in order to reduce their over funded position and to give some money back to employers, that they would offer subsidies. So up until 2003 there was a 35 percent discount. Mr. Speaker, that means that if your rates were $1 per hundred that you were paying, after the...