Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, if the conduct of a certain practitioner has been brought into question, if that has been out there unresolved for a period of time and that person continues to practice, does the Minister not see the problem or the danger in that occurring? I’ll ask the Minister again: is she aware of any practicing member of the medical profession in the Northwest Territories who is under investigation at this time and continues to deliver services to the people of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I‘d like to seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper, oral questions.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, during this Minister’s tenure as Minister of Health and Social Services, has she ever made appointments to a board of inquiry to look into a matter of a complaint about conduct of a physician practicing in the Northwest Territories, or is she aware of any time in the recent past when a board of inquiry has been appointed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I attempted to describe what I think is a process that is in place that would allow a panel of peers of physicians to receive complaints and deal with complaints about the conduct of physicians who practice in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister: could she please describe for me what the process is? What is in place currently in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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

---Carried

[Microphone turned off.] …again. Might I suggest that it is the Minister’s job to make herself aware of any outstanding complaints about the conduct of somebody who’s delivering services, medical professional services to the people of the Northwest Territories? This is not unheard of in other professions. Sometimes RCMP members are under investigation. Often you hear that until the matter is resolved, their rights and their work is suspended until the matter is cleared up. That takes care of protecting their rights. Sometimes you hear of it in cases of teachers. Not so much around here but in...

Thank you. I’d just like to follow up on my questions that I asked previously to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to the process in place for examining complaints about the conduct of physicians in the Northwest Territories. Again, I want to be clear, I’m not talking about a whole lot of people. I’m talking about one person. But I need to understand this process, as do my constituents who have concerns about the conduct of this individual.

Mr. Speaker, in response to a previous question, the Minister stated that these things can take a while. That is frightening to me...

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister aware of any board of inquiry that was appointed to deal with a complaint where that complaint, to this day, has not been concluded or disposed of? Are there outstanding complaints that have been raised against any medical professionals that have not yet been concluded? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the board of inquiry, who sits on that board? How do they get on that board? What is the Minister’s relationship with that board? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently I was approached by a constituent about a matter that I believe has been lurking out there for a while and I have given the Minister of Health and Social Services a heads-up that I’m going to be raising this issue.

We value greatly our physicians and surgeons and medical practitioners in the Northwest Territories. We have had difficulty in the past recruiting and retaining people in this profession. I want to state clearly from the outset of this Member’s statement that this is not about the 99.9 percent of people who take up this profession. However, I have...