Statements in Debates
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I probably should have had a closer look at this myself before I asked the question. On 230, 20182019, it shows a revenue of zero or just a line, but the previous two years, either the revised estimates or the actuals, were $292,000. What is happening in 20182019? Have all of those leases been given up or surrendered? Are there any revenues coming in? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is this just a general pot that is available for different organizations to apply to obtain funding to go to these sorts of conferences? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following document entitled "Pharmacare: A Plan for Everyone" by the Canadian Labour Congress. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I am still concerned that maybe we were overly optimistic with that one, but I look forward to seeing how it rolls out. Are there any plans to expand the network to Tuktoyaktuk or other communities along the way, like Jean Marie River? Is this something that Finance is starting to think about? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Again, I want to thank the Minister. There are some difficult decisions to be made ahead, but we have to start that conversation. So joint drug buying programs are something that our government has participated in to help lower our expenditures on that side. Can the Minister update us on NWT's participation in national-provincial drug buying cooperatives and any analysis of their benefits which might be under way?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I want to ask about the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link revenue line on page 140. Back in 20172018, it was predicted to be $1.182 million, but it was significantly less. Can someone explain what is happening there and why we are not getting the revenues that were predicted? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Merci, monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The introduction of a national pharmacare program would bring benefits to all in this country, including residents of the Northwest Territories, including things like national standards and maybe even some more money from the federal government. What is the position of our government on national pharmacare? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister, but that's not what I asked. Given that we do not have much room before we hit the debt wall, how can we have any assurance of that? Why do we keep submitting these proposals to the federal government for these large infrastructure projects when we do not have much fiscal capacity to do it? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Merci, monsieur le President. Here, in the Northwest Territories, most of our citizens do fairly well in comparison to other Canadians when it comes to costfree and reasonable access to prescription drugs. We know that, in the South, one in five Canadians never fills the prescription given by their caregiver because they do not have the money. In 2015, Canada's prescription drug spending as a share of gross domestic product was the fifth-highest among 31 OECD countries. Canada spends more on prescription drugs because we pay higher prices for them, not because we need or buy more.
One important...
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I did have some correspondence with the Minister about that on this very topic, particularly around the audits. Maybe I could just ask: what exactly is it that the federal government has to change to be able to set the value at a fixed amount or index a fixed amount for the air fares? What exactly do they have to fix? Is it a regulation? Is it a policy? Thanks, Mr. Chair.