Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of developing that policy. In fact, in my Minister’s statement here I’d provided sort of a framework as to where we’re going and some of the questions we have to ask and some of the partners that we need to work with; for example, our community leaders and aboriginal leaders, as well as our business leaders. In fact, in November as we’re going out to start this leg of the work, going to meet with those groups to begin to put the framework together. Of course we’re always ready to meet with Members and go through that process as well...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as with most legislation that flows through this House, as the Member stated, the bill itself, the law that gets put in place follows with regulation being worked on. I understand that they're aiming for April, but Ms. Kennedy can provide more detail, as well, on that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the idea of the macroeconomic policy unit has been discussed by previous governments that we should take this direction. Ultimately the final direction came from FMBS prior to this year’s budget we’re in now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Internet pharmacy issue that's been out there in Canada is something that this bill doesn't deal with particularly. It doesn't deal with that section of it. That more falls into the actual physicians' side of the equation and how they deal with that. So that part of it is not covered in this act. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we have in the past, in this scenario we’ve worked cooperatively with the union and staff and any changes that are about to occur, as we have in the past, we will protect individuals and positions. But I haven’t seen the full layout of the plan. I’m aware that we are putting it in place to address the concerns that are there today. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we are faced with challenges across the whole jurisdiction, whether it’s the smaller communities or larger centres, when it comes to providing health care for people in the Territories. But we have as a government over the years tried to address this through a number of factors, whether we talk about our Graduate Nurse Program, Social Worker Program, and other areas that we focus on in ensuring that we can provide a level of service that is adequate to all people across the Territories.

There are a number of factors involved and I’m at a bit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 69(2) to have Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, moved into Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Bill 13, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2006-2007, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess that is an option. If we were to lose our northern nurses and they formed an agency and then contracted the Government of the Northwest Territories, that is not something we would encourage. Ultimately, it comes back to the ability to find the dollars to do this. Hopefully, with some of our other plans in place, we will be able to start coming back to the way we have done it in the past where we hire north and keep our nurses in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.