David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister has just announced this new work that the department is working on on the renegade health care card issue. That’s news to me. Also news to me lately is the announcement that we’re losing our chief medical officer and that the government had signed a physicians’ contract. They don’t tell us, we find out in the press. That’s the way this government operates, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are only 42,000 residents here in the Northwest Territories and I find it completely absurd that the Minister cannot answer a question about how many people this will impact. She talks about low-income earners and families. How many of those people are there in our Territory and where are they? She can’t answer that question.

Also, I haven’t heard the Minister give us an answer as to her assertion that this move is cost neutral. Where is that evidence, Mr. Speaker? I’d like to see it, and so would everybody else. It just hasn’t been proven.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Bill 6, Species at Risk NWT Act, and wishes to advise that additional time is required to complete this review.

Later today I will be submitting a petition on behalf of the NWT Seniors’ Society, so I wanted to recognize the president of the NWT Seniors’ Society, Tom Wilson, secretary Leon Peterson, vice-president Eileen Collins, past-president Bea Campbell, and treasurer Blake Lyons, as well as Barb Hood, the executive director. Also, I’d like to recognize Ms. Arlene Hache, recently named to the Order of Canada. Congratulations and thank you very much for all your dedication and hard work on social concerns here in the Northwest Territories, Arlene. Also I see there’s councillor Lydia Bardak, also a...

Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister has just announced this new work that the department is working on on the renegade health care card issue. That’s news to me. Also news to me lately is the announcement that we’re losing our chief medical officer and that the government had signed a physicians’ contract. They don’t tell us, we find out in the press. That’s the way this government operates, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. I would like to welcome everyone back to the House and also the visitors we have in the gallery. I would like to speak today about the proposed changes to supplementary health benefits in the Northwest Territories. I would like to begin by thanking all of those who I have spoken to in person and those of you who have e-mailed, phoned and faxed your concerns to me over these proposed changes. I have received more and more calls and concerns over this issue than any other single issue in the five years that I have been a Member of this House. I am very thankful for all of the input...

Mr. Speaker, there are only 42,000 residents here in the Northwest Territories and I find it completely absurd that the Minister cannot answer a question about how many people this will impact. She talks about low-income earners and families. How many of those people are there in our Territory and where are they? She can’t answer that question.

Also, I haven’t heard the Minister give us an answer as to her assertion that this move is cost neutral. Where is that evidence, Mr. Speaker? I’d like to see it, and so would everybody else. It just hasn’t been proven.

Later today I will be submitting a petition on behalf of the NWT Seniors’ Society, so I wanted to recognize the president of the NWT Seniors’ Society, Tom Wilson, secretary Leon Peterson, vice-president Eileen Collins, past-president Bea Campbell, and treasurer Blake Lyons, as well as Barb Hood, the executive director. Also, I’d like to recognize Ms. Arlene Hache, recently named to the Order of Canada. Congratulations and thank you very much for all your dedication and hard work on social concerns here in the Northwest Territories, Arlene. Also I see there’s councillor Lydia Bardak, also a...

Thank you. I would like to welcome everyone back to the House and also the visitors we have in the gallery. I would like to speak today about the proposed changes to supplementary health benefits in the Northwest Territories. I would like to begin by thanking all of those who I have spoken to in person and those of you who have e-mailed, phoned and faxed your concerns to me over these proposed changes. I have received more and more calls and concerns over this issue than any other single issue in the five years that I have been a Member of this House. I am very thankful for all of the input...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to present a petition dealing with the matter of changes to seniors’ Health Benefits Program. The petition contains 727 signatures of NWT residents, broken down from the following communities: Fort Good Hope, 35; Inuvik, 57; Fort Resolution, 25; Fort Smith, 320. That’s a total 727 signatures. The petitioners request that the GNWT stop the implementation of the Supplementary Health Benefits Program and Catastrophic Drug Program, and that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct public consultations with all groups in the Northwest Territories before...