Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, June 5th to the 11th is Water Safety Week in the NWT. I mention this because every year about 500 Canadians drown in water related fatalities. Each year, more than 100 children and youth in Canada drown and many more have close calls and injuries.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition of Water Safety Week, I just want to recognize the Canadian Coast Guard and the work that they do in Hay River and in the North. They put their lives at risk for us in order to ensure our safety when we are out on the water. In 1962, the Canadian Coast Guard selected Hay River and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some people listening to this debate may think we have taken leave of our senses when we talk about our infrastructure and our capital deficit here in the Northwest Territories. However, I have a slightly different idea about how a motion like this and how artistic expression can be incorporated.

To me, I don’t quite envision taking a bunch of northern crafts and things and hanging them on walls and having them as an add-on. I think, again, this building is a perfect example of where the culture and the artistic expression is integrated into the building...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know if a demand for increased capacity would include re-examining the vacant space and vacant cells which now exist in the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for Justice. Recently we’ve heard some news in the media that perhaps the North Slave Correctional Centre doesn’t have the capacity that’s required for persons incarcerated in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to ask the Minister, when the North Slave Correctional Centre was built, how many inmates was it intended to house in relation to how many are in it today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement, I addressed the issue that has been raised in this House numerous times before. The GNWT, on behalf of their employees, subscribes to a pharmaceutical insurance program with Sun Life and there are some problems and gaps for the service providers under that particular insurance program. I trust by now Minister Roland is familiar with what the issue is, although some of the correspondence would indicate otherwise. We need an online adjudicated, quick, efficient process for the pharmacies in the Northwest Territories. Has the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there are quite a number of insurance companies who already do have provisions for pharmacies. Other employers in the Northwest Territories have their employees covered by services which are available online and at much less cumbersome process than what Sun Life has. I just want to confirm something. Is the Minister saying that Sun Life does not have a different program that we could subscribe to that would provide for that online access? If it’s not going to be up and running, if it’s a Sun Life deficiency and is not going to be up and running until 2008, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak again today to something that has been raised in the House numerous times before. As we are all aware, the Government of the Northwest Territories, its boards and agencies, are one of the largest employers in the Northwest Territories. As such, the GNWT’s public service health care plan, as administered by Sun Life Financial and paying 80 percent of prescription’s cost, is probably the second largest defined benefit health care program in the NWT, after the aboriginal non-insured health benefit plan administered by the federal government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the information that my questions and comments were premised on today was a letter that I had received from the NWT Pharmacy Association dated April 27th. I was not aware that a subsequent meeting had taken place on the subject. I would ask the Minister, in response to their concerns and the concerns that I have reiterated here again today, would the Minister provide me with some form of a briefing as to the progress on this matter before the end of the session? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is June 1st, so the constituent from Hay River who requires travel to Yellowknife three times a week for dialysis, it would be fair to tell him that within five months he will no longer have to make that journey, that those services will be up and running and staffed in the Hay River Hospital. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to know if the Minister knows how many people in Hay River are in need of dialysis services and will those services in Hay River that he speaks of serve Hay River only or the region? Thank you.