David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier and it’s with regard to the Deh Cho Bridge and the loan guarantee to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. We just recently received a letter saying the loan guarantee was going to be again bumped up another $100,000. I distinctly remember saying the tap had been turned off on the Deh Cho Bridge project, so I was quite surprised to receive a letter like that. The project costs have gone from $50 million to $60 million to $140 million to $150 million. I am not sure why we continue to allow the tally to build up on this. I would like to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to stand on a point of order. I think I clearly heard the Minister of Health and Social Services threaten my wife. She’s an employee at Stanton Territorial Hospital. She wasn’t one of the 17 health care professionals that showed up at my constituency meeting with these concerns nor was she one of the seven that showed up at my colleague Ms. Lee’s constituency meeting, Mr. Speaker. I take great exception to the Minister threatening me and I think I heard him say my brother, who used to work at North Slave Correctional Centre. Mr. Speaker, I will go back...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Ms. Lee, made a point that it's not just the front-line nursing staff here. We're talking about maintenance, we're talking about laundry, we're talking about cleanliness, the janitorial, we're talking about top to bottom. There's something wrong at Stanton Hospital. The Minister has been the Minister of Health of Social Services for five years. Some of these problems, to me, are very systemic. Why can't something be done with the morale at this hospital and this institution that provides such a valuable service to this community and this territory?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services:

From the operational review conducted in 2002, can the Minister provide the House with updates on what has been done to address all recommendations contained in the review?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it gets back to the status of Stanton Territorial Hospital and what is going on there. You know, these problems are not new. The Minister was the Minister back in 2002 when, in fact, he ordered a review, an operational review, a full operational review to be conducted in the fall of 2002. I mentioned in my Member's statement today that the scenario that played itself out in 2002 is very, very similar to the one that is here today, and the problems haven't gone away. The first question...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think we would be jumping the gun by cutting off the risk of the territorial government in that loan guarantee. Why wouldn’t we just pay it out? We are going to get the information anyway. The decision from the federal government might be years away. Again, I don’t understand why we continue to bleed. What other costs is the government going to incur on this loan guarantee? There has to be other costs out there. What are they and will the Premier let us know what they are? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just last week the Minister of the Environment was away basically from his responsibility with Health and Social Services for a week attending FPT meetings, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier. How does his government go out to the people of the Northwest Territories and say health and social services is important when they don’t have one Minister looking after something so important as health and social services? I think it is appalling, Mr. Speaker, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier and it’s with regard to the Deh Cho Bridge and the loan guarantee to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. We just recently received a letter saying the loan guarantee was going to be again bumped up another $100,000. I distinctly remember saying the tap had been turned off on the Deh Cho Bridge project, so I was quite surprised to receive a letter like that. The project costs have gone from $50 million to $60 million to $140 million to $150 million. I am not sure why we continue to allow the tally to build up on this. I would like to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to get back to my Member’s statement. I want to talk about the importance that this government places in the area of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, what I think has been allowed to happen here in the last little while is the government is diminishing the value that health is in our territory. I don’t believe it is fair to our residents that the government continues to allow this practice to happen. I mentioned it earlier. Across the country, a Health Minister is a Health Minister. His other responsibility is not the environment...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Ms. Lee, made a point that it's not just the front-line nursing staff here. We're talking about maintenance, we're talking about laundry, we're talking about cleanliness, the janitorial, we're talking about top to bottom. There's something wrong at Stanton Hospital. The Minister has been the Minister of Health of Social Services for five years. Some of these problems, to me, are very systemic. Why can't something be done with the morale at this hospital and this institution that provides such a valuable service to this community and this territory?...