Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today as I said earlier, my questions are for Mr. McLeod, the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, and it’s about the senior citizen and disabled persons tax relief program. The municipal council of a tax-based community can, by passing a bylaw, exempt the eligible property of a senior citizen or disabled person from part of the taxes where the senior citizen or disabled person is the owner or part owner of that home. The bylaw sets out the percentage of taxes to be exempted up to a maximum of 50 percent.

The Minister of Municipal and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the Premier’s confirmation of that fact, because I do think that there are people out there who think to the contrary. The other thing is, in the distribution of the work that we do here in the Assembly, some are Regular Members and some are in Cabinet. Again, another perception that’s out there in the public is that somehow being at the Cabinet table is beneficial to your riding more so than the rest of us who sit around here. I have said many times, I see us sitting around here as equals. We assign certain responsibilities to Members of the Cabinet...

Thank you. Sometimes we lose track of where our constituents live. I thought Mr. Jones was my constituent. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Julia Trennert in the gallery today from Hay River. She is the sister of our colleague from Nunakput; Julia Trennert.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about something which is, I believe, a long held perception in the public about the way in which things work in this Assembly. Each Member elected to the Assembly has the right, privilege, and even the obligation, to stand up for their constituents. They also have the right to speak their conscience on matters of conduct and integrity. They should be able to do that without any fear of reprisal.

This is a unique institution in that we ourselves are the gatekeepers on the standard of accountability and integrity to which we wish to aspire...

Committee, I would like to call us back to order, please. You had indicated earlier that you would like to proceed with Bill 11, Tourism Act. At this time, I would ask Minister Bell if he would please bring opening comments on the bill. Minister Bell.

Is committee agreed?

That’s it, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my questions today to the Premier. Probably just going back in history a little when our government had a lot more wealth than it does now and the concept was that people got together and they sat around the table and they had little horse-trading sessions and they decided which communities and which regions were getting jobs and programs and capital projects, and they divvied up this big pot of money and everybody went away from the room relatively happy. Well, as we all know, that’s not the way things really work around here anymore...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A good deal of discussion during our public hearings centred on the role of the medical advisors in the workers’ compensation system, and in particular on what happens when their opinions conflict with the opinions of outside physicians. As the workers’ advisor told us, the issue of “objective medical evidence” accounts for about 60 percent of his caseload. It is also a factor in many of the WCB’s long-unresolved claims.

As the report states at paragraph 157, “the medical advisors’ views carry considerable weight with caseworkers, claim managers and the Review Committee...

Thank you, Mr. Bell. At this time I would like to ask Mr. Villeneuve, please, if he would provide the committee's comments on the review of Bill 11.