Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know some Members will be doing a reply to the opening address today and I have chosen today for my Member’s statement to say thank you to some of my colleagues on the other side of the House. I will be making another statement tomorrow, but today I want to focus on those who served on Cabinet in the 16th Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, starting with Premier Roland, who I have had the privilege of serving in this Legislature with for 16 years. There are only three of us who can say we’ve been here that long. I want to thank Premier Roland for the leadership that he’s provided...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s all I have. Thank you.

Would it make sense for our government, being a small jurisdiction with limited financial resources, to perhaps hold off on trying to develop some kind of action against the tobacco companies until someone else has basically broken the trail, has gone ahead of us, has proven in the courts that it is actually possible to get compensation for this? Again, I know there’s some economies of partnering with other jurisdictions that are pursuing the same thing, but just in terms of our timing and our resources, if we could see the success that someone else had and try to mirror some kind of an action...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee today wishes to deal with Committee Report 6-16(6), Bill 10, Bill 22, and Bill 23. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

I have six minutes on the clock left, thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister when we would partner or collaborate with other jurisdictions to proceed down this path, supposing we get to that where we’re going to try and recover health care costs, are the actions of our government going to be judged and the question asked what did we do to mitigate damages ourselves? I would suggest that other jurisdictions have far more proactive legislation rules when it comes to this, like, for example, people smoking in their vehicles with the windows rolled up and their children in there. I mean, it’s a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Has anyone had success to date in any lawsuit? Is there any precedent law been set, any precedent ruling been set with respect to public governments suing tobacco companies to recover costs of health care services? Is there any precedent?

Of course, I’m also curious to know what kind of money we are willing to allocate as a government if we are going to embark on such an action against tobacco companies. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to speak in favour of the bill. I’ve heard from many constituents on this issue and seen the error of my ways. It is important to people. It is important for safety on our roads. I would like to thank the Minister for bringing this legislation forward and will be supporting it wholeheartedly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, today would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to all the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic crash at Resolute Bay this weekend. We realize how interconnected we all are as Northerners when we hear the initial news of something like this and know, inevitably, that we will know people who were involved in this.

Today especially I would like to send my condolences out to Aziz Kheraj and his wife, Alisak, on the loss of their little granddaughter, the miracle and the blessing of the granddaughter that did not perish, and for a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried