David Ramsay

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I’m going to have to wait then, I guess, to benefit the process. I’ll just hold my questions. I was going to follow up on some questions my colleague Mr. Bromley had, but I’ll hold off until the other page. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if they’re waiting for parts, I’m just wondering how long has this been going on for. My understanding is it’s been three weeks that surgeries have been cancelled at that hospital and only emergency surgeries are being performed. I’d like to ask the Minister how long has this been going on. I will wait and ask another question after that. Thank you.

Just one other thing. I’m just wondering if we’ve ever given any consideration to taking the tax that’s derived from cigarettes and alcohol in the Territory and instead of putting it into general revenue, earmarking it for activities under prevention and promotion. Maybe we should be identifying those dollars and using them in the right way.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services, getting back to my Member’s statement where I talked about the status of the sterilization equipment located at Stanton Hospital. This equipment is used to sterilize surgical instruments for performance in the operating room. I’d like to ask the Minister, if I can begin by asking her what the current status of the sterilization equipment is that’s required to sterilize these instruments at that hospital.

Maybe could the Minister elaborate a little bit on what the stance of the department was in increasing alcohol and tobacco taxes and whether or not that might have a negative impact on families around the Northwest Territories? Because as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, the people who are addicted to alcohol and tobacco are going to get their alcohol and tobacco no matter how much it costs, and the people who are going to pay the price are the kids in that home and the families in the small communities who are struggling to get by as it is. If you increase costs for alcohol and tobacco, I...

Could the Minister elaborate on that? Are we going to come up with a new campaign? What is the strategy that the department has to prevent alcohol abuse in the Northwest Territories? It’s a huge problem. What are we doing about it?

I just don’t see myself making any progress on this so I’ll give up at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A few other things. I just wanted to follow up and all I’m looking for is a short, concise answer from the Minister. What assurances have we got that the Graduate Placement Program will be around in the following year? I know the letter stated it’s available this year, the funding is there. What about next year and it’s 65 grads in the next three years, not 70 to 80? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I know the Minister gave me a long answer, but it really didn’t answer the question that I had. That is, where is the CHN program, the Community Health Nurse Program at Aurora College in 2011-12? It’s not there. It’s not on the academic calendar. I’m trying to understand why it’s not there when the Minister is stating all the good reasons why it should be. That’s the issue that I’m bringing up, Mr. Chairman.

The Minister says she didn’t mean to say that northern nursing grads weren’t trained enough to get out of the program and into jobs. She might not have meant to say that, but...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Try as I might, I was going to try to stretch things out a little bit and get some questions in on 29, but I’m going to seek unanimous consent of committee to go back to 8-21 just for a few seconds. Thank you.