Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we’ve already heard, the demand for more funding for a number of sources or activities in the Northwest Territories continues, whether its highways, arts funding or medical facilities or infrastructure or office space. What we’ve done is, again, looked at our utilization rate and right now at the Stanton facility there’s approximately a 60 percent occupancy for in-patient wards. We’re finding a heavy usage on the outpatient side of it and that’s why a utilization report is being done to look at how we use our facilities best and a temporary move has...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are other areas as well that we would be looking at and one of the other areas would be the maintenance enforcement office would be another area we would notify would be other individuals who are faced with that, would do that as well. Once this is done and the name is changed, it would be published in the Northwest Territories Gazette.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know we’ve worked with Members of this Assembly around our territorial facility here in Yellowknife at Stanton Territorial Hospital. I must say that maybe sometimes I need to get the information the Member is getting to help me do the job a little better. He seems to have a very good source.

Mr. Speaker, the area of the Stanton utilization is something we do when we work with all authorities in the area of master development plans and that is something that we will continue to do. In this situation, through the Stanton territorial facility, we’ve had...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have, in fact, in cases already in that area, been involved in helping individuals prove their name and identification along those lines, so we will continue to work along those lines.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in reviewing this file and the bill, the department feels the department can deal with an additional workload with the support staff that’s in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, joining me at the table here, to my right is deputy minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Chuck Parker; further to my right is Dr. Andre Corriveau, at this point, chief medical health officer, Health and Social Services, but that title will change with the passing of this act. To my left is Janis Cooper, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to introduce Bill 12, Public Health Act. This bill will replace the out-of-date 1950's act and represents the culmination of several years of work by the Department of Health and Social Services.

In developing this bill, the department identified the following goals:

to ensure the chief public health officer has the independence to make decisions and act to protect the public’s health, while having an adequate organizational support structure;

to provide updated and appropriate remedies and powers so that the chief public health officer can protect the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, August 17, I will move that Bill 17, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2006-2007, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have started the process that I think would be the appropriate one. Ultimately, we need the federal government to make that decision. As I stated, we’re working with our colleagues across the territories and provinces and we will be addressing the federal committee of finance or the committee that’s reviewing pre-budget consultation on the federal budget and will be making a presentation there as well. So we’ve got a number of processes in place and we’ll continue to proceed and push those forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as we proceed with this and as we work with other departments involved in this along with ourselves, we will take a look at this as one of the areas. Thank you.