Kevin O'Reilly

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.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, and I look forward to the discussion. Is this the place where I can ask about the Northern Resident Tax Deduction, which I know is a federal income tax area, but is this where I can ask questions around indexing of that deduction? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that commitment. I am the guy who keeps raising it and bugging you about it, so, yes, if we can find a way to do that, that would be great. One of our mandate commitments is that we are going to look at the Heritage Fund Act legislation. Concerns have been raised around making sure that there is a legislatively defined revenue stream into the fund and that there is some greater role for the public in terms of governance. Where are we at with the legislation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, so I think earlier the Minister committed to talking to standing committee about the issue of revenues. I am hoping that he would agree to have a broader approach to this that could involve the public, as well. A couple of years ago, we did a revenue options paper. Is that something that the Minister is prepared to do again to engage the public on this issue of revenues? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, just making sure I have got the right section. The NWT Heritage Fund, can someone tell me what the actual balance is in the Heritage Fund, because I cannot find it in the main estimates, and it is not in the business plans. I will make a comment about that in a minute, but I would like to know what the balance is. Thanks.

Well, I understood they could write it off against mining royalties, but they also have an opportunity to write it off against corporate income tax, as well. Is it double accounting? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just not sure where the Heritage Fund is found in the main estimates. Can someone tell me whether this is the appropriate place or which activity to ask about the Heritage Fund? Thanks, Mr. Chair.