Jane Groenewegen

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, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger. I will keep my questions short and concise, Mr. Speaker, today, with your admonition to do so. Mr. Speaker, I also fly back and forth between Hay River and Yellowknife a lot, and I have a person from Hay River who I see in the airport almost every time I travel. This is a person who has to travel to Yellowknife three times a week for dialysis treatment at Stanton Hospital. I would like to ask the Minister where are dialysis services available in...

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past 11 years I have had a chance to drive the highway between Hay River and Yellowknife many, many times. I wish I would have counted because it’s been many thousands. This past Sunday I had occasion again. After church on Sunday I got in my vehicle and drove to Yellowknife. I’ve come to this House and reported on things like bison on the road, the state of the yellow lines on the road, road conditions, ferry operations, ferry signage, and everything. But today I want to tell you about the condition of the Government of the Northwest Territories...

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like so many other allied health professionals, I would like to ask the Minister if he anticipates there being a difficult or challenging finding, people who know how to operate this. Is it a challenge in finding people who know how to operate this? Is it something that when training is received, it could be done by an RN, or do you require dedicated staff for dialysis services? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past 11 years I have had a chance to drive the highway between Hay River and Yellowknife many, many times. I wish I would have counted because it’s been many thousands. This past Sunday I had occasion again. After church on Sunday I got in my vehicle and drove to Yellowknife. I’ve come to this House and reported on things like bison on the road, the state of the yellow lines on the road, road conditions, ferry operations, ferry signage, and everything. But today I want to tell you about the condition of the Government of the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that the Minister and everyone in this room or Chamber know that the community resources are not there to deal with drug addictions in many cases and particularly in the smaller communities. To sentence people to house arrest who are drug addicted seems like a bit of a recipe for disaster or for failure for those individuals. I would like to ask the Minister if he has room in the jails for these people. If we don’t have the resources to provide counselling and help for these people who are drug addicted, does he have room in his jails for them...

Mr. Speaker, this is my final question. I wonder if the Minister would commit to working with the Minister of Health and Social Services to do a cost-benefit analysis on providing those resources in the communities to deal with those folks who are in court as a result of drug addictions to see which is the more economic and humane route for this government to provide the resources to support those people in their efforts to get away from those addictions, or to look at the cost of where they are ultimately going to end up and that is in jail. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.