Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following two documents: "Letter dated October 23, 2020, from Association of Consulting Engineering Companies to MLA Frame Lake on Statements Regarding Companies Selected by the GNWT for the Lockhart All-Season Road;" and the second document, Mr. Speaker, is a press release, "Yellowknives Dene First Nation Press Release dated August 1, 2020, titled 'Yellowknives Dene First Nation retract support for the Slave Geological Province Corridor until the GNWT takes the action necessary to ensure that Northerners benefit from the project.'" Mahsi, Mr...

A big part of the problem here is the uncertainty for patients that are waiting. Not only have their surgeries been cancelled but there doesn't seem to be a solution anywhere in the future. Will the Minister see that regular public updates are issued? The last one, I think, was October 5th, three weeks ago. It doesn't even seem like there is a regular schedule, so can the Minister commit to a regularly scheduled update of the NTHSSA website and some way of actually notifying individual patients about what's going on?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The problem with the sterilization equipment at Stanton Territorial Hospital is about to enter its fourth month, and it appears we are tinkering away with settings and hoping to find a solution. I have to ask the basic question: why can't we fix this problem? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I rise pursuant to Rule 21(1) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly to make a personal explanation. During the debate on Motion 12-19(2), revocation of appointment of the Honourable Member for Great Slave to the Executive Council on August 26, 2020, I made the following statement, "The Yellowknives First Nation publicly withdrew their support for the SGP Road on August 1, 2020, given that the GNWT contracted another southern company for up to $20 million worth of work."

The Yellowknives Dene First Nation issued a news release dated August 1, 2020, that included...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that commitment to update the website every couple of weeks. I think that way people will at least have somewhere where they can get information about what's happening. The Minister herself talked about how COVID is surging in Alberta and that might cause some difficulties in terms of sending patients there. The other concern that I've heard expressed is, of course, the impending drastic cuts that may be made by the Alberta provincial government to their healthcare system as publicly announced by their Premier. What can the...

I want to thank the Minister for that. She alluded to the fact that patients are left in ill-health and misery. We just don't have a way of scheduling surgeries yet. Can the Minister tell me how many surgeries are on hold and what other measures can be taken? For example, can we not ship sterilization equipment into the Northwest Territories or other options to get people to surgeries they need?

Merci, Monsieur le President. The problems with sterilization of instruments and equipment at Stanton Territorial Hospital will be known to Members through media reports, health authority updates, and even calls from constituents awaiting surgery as I've had. As the problem remains unresolved into its third month, it's time to step up with urgent action.

The issue is as detailed as it is longstanding, but basically, it's this: on July 23rd, the hospital's three sterilizer units simultaneously started producing instruments contaminated by moisture. This means the instruments can't be considered...

I want to thank the Minister for that information. Great that we're going to be working more collaboratively on regulations moving forward. I'll be back here in February asking more questions about Thaidene Nene. I'd like to ask the Minister, though, about progress on management boards for Thaidene Nene seems to be stalled, as well. Can the Minister tell us whether any of the relevant parties have made appointments, and if so, when and who?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I made a statement about Thaidene Nene in February, and I need to follow up as progress seems to have come to a halt. Thaidene Nene was formally established as a national park and protected area under GNWT legislation in August 2019. GNWT had to be dragged into the arrangement and resisted it at almost every step. Hopefully, this new Cabinet will take a much different approach to protected areas and the long-term sustainability they can bring, especially for smaller communities.

There is still no regulation to formalize the establishment for the GNWT portion under...

I want to thank the Minister for that. Getting close counts in horseshoes but not in this Assembly. I understand that some of the parties have actually made appointments, they haven't been made public yet. I don't know what's going on, but that's what public registry is actually supposed to be doing. Can the Minister tell us, though, if there is a public seat on any of the Thaidene Nene management boards, and if so, how was recruitment carried out?