Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met on October 11, 2005, to review Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act. Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 8 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee's general comments on Bill 8. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. For all intents and purposes, the old system of privately owned clinics run by physicians on a fee-for-service was private health care to some extent. What is the rule, or what would the opinion be now, of the Department of Health and Social Services if a physician wanted to come to Hay River or Yellowknife or Inuvik, set up a private clinic and bill the government on a fee-for-service basis? Seriously, it could run some very serious competition on the system that we have got right now. What would be the response of the department to such a proposal? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger.

Probably one of the concerns we have had raised most often at our constituency office, and just from meeting people in the street and talking to them -- townsfolk of Hay River -- is the wait time to get into the Hay River Medical Clinic. That seems to be the hot topic right now in Hay River. With all due respect to our CEO and our board, they have devised a new plan where they are trying to resolve issues like backlog and avoid no-shows. Certainly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to make a statement today that I hope will help our constituents understand a very key element of how we accomplish work on their behalf. There are many ways to approach our constituency work. We can make statements in the House, ask questions during session, write letters to Ministers and departments, send e-mails, have meetings, issue press releases, hold constituency meetings, have newspaper columns, publish newsletters, et cetera. But to be very specific, many constituents we don’t often hear from unless they have an issue with their dealings...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met on October 11, 2005, to review Bill 9, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act. This act makes minor amendments to the Charter Communities Act, the Cities, Towns and Villages Act and the Hamlets Act.

The committee asked for an explanation of the new amendment that deals with transferring unpaid service charges to property taxes. The amendment will allow a municipal taxing authority to recover any outstanding bills or fines that relate to real property and charge them against property taxes. A homeowner, for...

Thank you for that, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. We’re trying to think outside the box here in terms of how to address this problem because we don’t want people to see our communities as having a lesser standard of living or quality of life because of lack of medical services. So those are the kinds of things in discussions we’ll probably have in our communities. I’m glad to hear that response, and I’ll certainly pass that on in Hay River, that maybe we’ll have to do some recruitment as a community on our own, quite apart from what the Minister does. You know, I can’t think of...

Members, I will now provide my ruling on a point of order raised by Mr. Roland on Thursday, June 2, 2005.

During Members’ statements, the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland, rose on a point of order claiming that the Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay, in his Member’s statement earlier that day had, and I quote from page 411 of unedited Hansard: “made allegations against me saying I circumvented the rules. Under 23(h) of our rules, I believe that is an infraction.”

In reviewing Mr. Ramsay’s statement as contained in the unedited Hansard, I note that the Member for Kam Lake made...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister as well, the volunteers who provide this service out of Hay River take their training and their job of going and responding to motor vehicle accidents on the highway and providing ambulance services very, very seriously. It’s all volunteer; they train and they get some funding for training, but what the Town is concerned about and what I’m concerned about is they do this in good faith on a volunteer basis, but what about the liability aspect of it? If we don’t know whose responsibility it is, then how do we know who is liable...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister then if he is satisfied that the federal Minister understands the nature of our concern and if this will result in a change in practice or a change in attitude that would ensure Mr. Van Camp’s full participation, and will he keep us, as Members, apprised of what flows as a result of the communication? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister then who that is. I would like to ask him how we provide input. As the GNWT, we suggest a representative. The federal government appoints them. How are we assured of their effective and full participation and representation on that board on our behalf? Thank you.