Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to follow up on my colleague Wendy Bisaro’s Member’s statement from last Friday on the changes to the Supplemental Health Benefits Program. For the record, I completely agree with Ms. Bisaro. I, too, find the document released by the Department of Health and Social Services leading. It’s clear that the Minister has a preferred course of action on the changes to the program and has released information that will ensure that the department gets what the department wants.

I encourage the Minister to remember the motion that was passed in this House. The...

The motion is clear. I was wondering if the Minister could tell us why the Minister ignored what the motion said.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the questions I was asking earlier today. First off, I’d like to recognize that I agree with the Minister in her response to Mr. Hawkins that, yes, we have a collective responsibility to make this program work better for the residents of the Northwest Territories. I couldn’t agree more. The problem is I think we need information to do that.

The Minister also said, in responding to some of my questions, that we need some good dialogue between us and the stakeholders and the department. Once again, I couldn’t agree more, but we need to make sure...

Just for the record, the individuals I’ve talked to who are in that working group have indicated that they were basically told what the department is going to research and what’s going to happen after that. They weren’t actually encouraged to do what the motion suggested, which was to give alternate areas of research, give alternate opinions, alternate thoughts, so that when this information comes out, as it’s coming out now, it should come out complete; meaning that we should have all sorts of options and things to consider.

The Minister says that the research does point in a certain direction...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As outlined in my Member’s statement, it appears to me as though the Minister of Health and Social Services has strayed from the path agreed to by Members to conduct a review of the potential redesign of the Supplementary Health Program. I’m wondering if the Minister could please outline for us what type of consultation was held with stakeholders prior to the department gathering and distributing the research information they provided to the public on February 22, 2010. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Tuesday I made a Member’s statement and asked some questions concerning colon cancer screening in the Northwest Territories. I am frustrated that the Minister seems unwilling to meet with the Stanton Foundation to work towards real partnerships and potential solutions. However, as I indicated at the time, I am supportive of the Department of Health and Social Services’ direction to encourage residents over 50 to get screened every one or two years. Given the high rate of colon cancer in the Northwest Territories, this is the right thing to do.

Given that the health...

Residents could die within two years. We need to make sure that people are getting these treatments as quickly as possible.

Just for the record, I think the individuals at Stanton performing the procedures are experts and are awesome at what they do and they deserve to be patted on the back. I’m not talking about the actual performance of the procedure; I’m talking about screening and getting the procedures to happen and scheduled on a regular basis.

I’m wondering if I could get the Minister to commit to having Stanton implement a monitoring and reminder process that ensures that residents are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As indicated during my Member’s statement, I believe that as a system we must own some responsibility for patients missing their appointments, especially when they are for appointments which take place several months from the time when patients are originally notified of the requirement for a procedure.

I’ve talked with some residents who have indicated that they have been told by their physician that they are being recommended for colon cancer screening but they don’t hear anything from Stanton for months. Could the Minister of Health and Social Services please tell me...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister can reiterate it all she wants. The bottom line is that people are waiting an extended period of time. I’m asking her to get her department, and Stanton specifically, to find a way to expedite those times as much as they can and to work with our residents to remind them that their appointments are coming so that they don’t feel like they are left in the dark. Once again, I was wondering if I could get the Minister to commit to actually putting in a process that ensures that residents are regularly updated about the time and date of their colonoscopy as well...

Thank you to the Minister for that. I’m not sure that is always the case. I know there are a number of people who have emergency situations or blood has appeared in their samples to suggest that an appointment should happen within three months, as the department indicated in the newspaper several weeks ago. There are delays that are far longer than that. Given that there is such an extensive wait list for colon cancer screening, how does the system, and Stanton specifically, ensure that residents are regularly updated as to the status of their appointment? That is one of the problems that...