Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a number of years ago, the Health Minister of the day attempted to change the supplementary health benefit program without very much success. How will the Minister do differently than was done at that time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in the last few weeks I have had occasion to talk to the Health Minister about conditions that are not covered under extended health benefits. In one case, Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS; and in the other case, I addressed here in the House, which was the provision of family planning aides and medical pregnancy termination. The Minister has said that there is a review going on here, but I don't think we have very many specifics about the plan going forward with the review of the supplementary health benefits, so I would appreciate some detail on that now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, during the business plan process, we talked about how the department was negotiating with Health Canada around the new terms and conditions for the NIHB agreement, and I am wondering if the Minister could update us on the status of those negotiations? Thank you.

The report writer said this: "The budget for the OPG is just under $300,000 a year. Actual expenditures for the past four years have ranged from 8 to 40 per cent over budget. Projected expenditures for 2016-2017 are close to 50 per cent over budget."

So, given the extent of overspending in this office, I am unsure why the Minister feels he needs to make a business case to supplement funds. Can he explain why the budget has not been increased to cover the costs of these overruns before now?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. They follow on from my statement yesterday about the Office of the Public Guardian. The Minister received a report and a stack of recommendations about the office about 18 months ago. Regional and central audits of this office haven't taken place in 20 years. The report writers say this oversight may raise liability concerns. What is the Minister doing to reinstate audits in the office? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I acknowledge that the purpose of this bill was to provide protection from taxation for the lottery funds, but it turned into a different exercise, and that exercise was really about acknowledging the arts community's desire to have the access to the stable funding that the territorial sports organizations have as a result of lottery proceeds. Of course, this bill does not address that question, but I think it puts us all on notice that the arts community wants to have a strategy that lays out what they contribute to our wellbeing generally and economically and...

I wonder if the Minister can tell us what role his department will have with schools and teachers in cannabis education.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can appreciate that that's a level of detail that he might not have at his fingertips, but it leads into my next question where I note that the agreement to fund this quit line ends at the end of March. Is this agreement subject to renewal? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, Northerners have clearly stated that they want government to take an informed and active role on cannabis awareness, particularly for youth. My question is: what efforts is the Minister making to ensure various kinds of cannabis education materials are ready to go when legalization happens? Thank you.

No. Thank you to the Minister for his responses. Nothing further.