David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use my statement today to highlight Nurses’ Week, which is the week of May 10th to 16th. Nurses have been, and remain, the cornerstone of our health care system. I want to share with you part of an e-mail that I received from a friend of mine who has been in and out of hospital the past few years.

“Hi, Dave. Just got out of Stanton. Second time this month after another bout of pneumonia. My treatment and care were, as always, first class. We are blessed with nurses and doctors who really care about people.”

It is treatment like this that our residents receive...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, my colleague Mr. Yakeleya raised the issue of confidential medical records from Norman Wells inadvertently ending up at the CBC here in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, that was a very serious issue and the Minister, in response to questions from Mr. Yakeleya, stated that it was an accident and sometimes accidents happen.

Mr. Speaker, just yesterday a Yellowknife woman had come forward saying she’s received a dozen faxes containing confidential medical information. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister of Health and Social Services has some explaining to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak about the direction the Minister of Health and Cabinet has taken on the supplementary health benefits.

I’d like to begin by saying that the hypocrisy in this building sometimes is really something to behold. On Tuesday, May 10th, I stated the Health Minister was being arrogant and ignorant in her handling of the supplementary health issue.

Hansard is a very valuable tool, Mr. Speaker. Back on October 21st, 2005, Ms. Lee herself can be quoted as saying, “I urge this government to start acting like a responsive and responsible government, not an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the divisiveness of this subject and the fact that it’s dominated the discussion here in the House, obviously we’ve had members of the public in the gallery the few days we’ve been back, the Minister has received numerous letters, we as Members have received numerous letters. Again, I’m going to ask the Minister, will she park the implementation of the changes until after the next territorial election and let the public decide? I suggested this to the Minister the other day, if she thinks she can get re-elected campaigning for these changes, go door-to-door in...

Thank you. I thank the Minister for that. The Minister states quite clearly that Cabinet listens to what the public has to say and listens to what Regular Members have to say. Then the obvious question is: will the Minister take another look at the proposed changes and defer the implementation date on these program changes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as if it’s not bad enough that the information is getting out there, the lady that received some of these confidential medical records here in Yellowknife had, in fact, phoned the Stanton Territorial Hospital and told them that she had received this information. She never heard back from the hospital. I’d like to ask the Minister, if she’s going to take a look at this, you know, are people going to be responsible for not getting back to this woman and not telling her what she should do with these confidential medical records when she received them...

I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services how often major breaches of privacy happen with her department and the health authorities across the Northwest Territories that don’t hit the newspaper or the media. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I see a couple of constituents in the gallery today that I would like to recognize, Ms. Joy Watt and Ms. Donna MacEachern. Welcome to the proceedings this afternoon. As well, I see Mr. David Wind, Yellowknife city councillor, in the audience. Welcome to everybody else as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do respect your ruling. I do withdraw those remarks. It was basically my interpretation of the government’s policy which led me to make the remarks that I made and I respect your ruling. Thank you.

Thank you. I heard the Minister say earlier during the proceedings that she’d be tabling a document called What We Heard from the Public and I think that’s all fine and good, but what the Minister should be tabling in this House is what the government intends to do with what they heard, and I don’t hear her saying that. It’s fine and dandy to put what we heard, but what exactly is the government going to do with what they heard? I think that’s the important thing here.

We talk about sustainability. The Minister says these proposed changes are to lend sustainability to the supplementary health...