David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a couple of questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. In the Northwest Territories the impediment to a lot of first time home buyers is a down payment. I know that we do have programming at the Housing Corporation that helps people in that regard, but oftentimes people have monies locked into pension plans, such as superannuation and whatnot. I’m wondering if the Housing Corporation has ever given any consideration to looking at implementing a program where people could access or…. They can’t get this money, but they could use it as...

Mr. Speaker, it’s unfortunate the Minister doesn’t have the list of available options for my constituent today.

Again, why would my constituent have to go to Alberta, where these devices, as the Minister stated, are being distributed for free? Residents in Alberta don’t have to pay $4,500 for this. There are sufferers of MS in Alberta that are using these devices for their quality of life. Why is it that in the Northwest Territories our residents are forced to pay $4,500 to enhance their quality of life so they can walk with this WalkAide? Why is that? What is the process to get the WalkAide on...

Mr. Speaker, I do respect the rules, but I think it is a sad day when one of our residents has to travel to Alberta to see a neurologist to get a prescription for a WalkAide, when here in the Northwest Territories it is not on the list. It adds to the quality of life for this individual. That is evident. That’s why they had to go to Alberta. They had to get a prescription from this Alberta doctor, a neurologist in Edmonton, to get a WalkAide.

Again, the Minister speaks of these other aids that are possibly available under the list. Could the Minister tell me today what those other options are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. People pay taxes their entire life, and when they encounter a serious health issue like MS, the government should be there for them. In this case they weren’t, and that’s a shame.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to support the motion that’s before us on the milk subsidy program. I want to commend my colleague Mr. Bromley for having the sense and the courage to bring something like this forward. I think it shows a great deal of creativity. As a government I think we need to start somewhere, and this is a good place to start.

I think milk is absolutely a requirement in a child’s nutrition, and we need to make sure that children can get milk in the smaller communities where it’s costly. You know, I’ve been to Inuvik, and it’s interesting how the government can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to ask just one final question, I guess, about fuelling. Now that prices are low, I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation: why can’t we go out there? I’ll bet that the cost of fuel does go up in the near future. Why can’t we go out today and buy the fuel that we need for this winter and for next summer’s resupply? We can buy fuel that far in advance. I think that even if we have to borrow the money, if we can ensure that power rates in the communities are going to stay at a lower rate, we should be going out there and buying that fuel...

Mr. Speaker, I can understand and appreciate some of the previous costs. A lot of previous costs, as well, were because of bonuses paid to the senior management at the Power Corporation. I agree with my colleagues over here that are calling for a full scale review of the Power Corporation. I believe that they should find the way and the means within to pay for the fuel that they have had to pay for in the past and the costs that they have to pay for the past and not go and try to get it out of the pockets of residents in the Northwest Territories.

Again, I want to ask the Minister: given the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question. Given the gravity of the situation, the financial meltdown globally and the possibility that the federal government may look at cuts to equalization going forward, I’m wondering: why wouldn’t the Premier come to Members of the House and tell us, “I have to go to this meeting; I have to be at this meeting”? Why wasn’t that quoted to us? Why does the Premier make that decision on his own to stay in the House and not attend this meeting?

I thank the Premier for that. I’m glad he did get in touch with Premier Charest on the results of that meeting.

Like I said earlier, I think there is a good possibility that if the federal government starts running deficits, they’ll start choosing between deep program cuts and…. I’d hazard a guess that they would also take a look at axing programs. Possibly equalization might be included in that. Again, I want to make sure that the Premier understands the gravity of not being at this meeting.

I want to ask him again: what exactly warranted his presence in the House yesterday so that he couldn’t...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about the Premiers’ conference that was held recently in Montreal. There is one Premier out of the 13 provincial and territorial leaders who was absent from that meeting. That was our Premier, Mr. Roland.

The Premiers were meeting to discuss the global economic crisis and how the provinces and territories will be impacted by these volatile economic times. More important is the fact that the federal government will be a key player in fiscal issues pertaining to the provinces and territories. The backdrop to this meeting is the global financial...