Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the course of COVID-19, I have made multiple requests to see some data regarding COVID-19. I have made requests to see modelling, and I have still have not seen those. The type of data I am looking for is really not the kind of thing that I think should be asked on the floor of the House, but I will ask.
We have consistently heard that one of the risks of the Northwest Territories is we have a lot of immunocompromised people and respiratory illness, so my question to the Minister of health is: how many people in the NWT are projected to be at high risk or...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I have big expectations from what a work-from-home policy could accomplish. I think many people who work in government departments feel they don't need to be in the office the majority of the time, and I feel that a great way to get more childcare is allow people to be at home with their children, should they want. I know there are various ways across departments, and some departments have been highly productive working from home, and others have not.
I also think this is a big potential for the GNWT to be a leader. More and more corporations across the world are...
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do agree with many of the sentiments expressed by my colleague from Frame Lake. One of the issues I struggle with is that expanding strategic infrastructure projects, including Taltson, was made a priority of this Assembly, it's in our mandate, and then therefore the government is working on it, and to me it is committee's direction to provide that direction on how to do that. I still think there are a lot of questions to be answered about Taltson, and whether we actually build it or find a buyer, I think, is the biggest one, but to me, what this recommendation really...
Thank you, Madam Chair. I also note that the bill has the ability to be retroactive. We've seen licence deadlines extended. We've seen a number of kinds of deadlines that we've already missed, so can I just get a sense of what deadlines have already passed that we anticipate creating retroactive orders for? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my request to the Minister is: I think if people hear that there are potentially 450 deaths, that statistic has numerous qualifiers and a bunch of underlying assumptions built into it. When we hear that 5 percent of people get COVID and end up in the intensive care unit, once again, there are a number of qualifiers, and that's a worst-case scenario based on all of the qualifiers you said. My request to the Minister: could we publish some sort of report or data or put this out with all of the information out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That was some very helpful influenza data, and I will re-read the Hansard to try to understand it after. Perhaps it could be posted publicly. However, specifically, I'm not just looking for data on influenza; I'm looking for a projection of COVID-19 community spread across our population and the number of hospitalizations or deaths that could result from that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the questions I'm asking are highly technical, and I have resorted to asking them on the floor of the House because, after numerous requests, I have not got that data, so I'm really looking for some concrete numbers.
I don't believe it is a fair comparison to compare COVID-19 to the flu, based on everything I know. I also know that flus have flu shots, which significantly reduce the number of people who get the flu, but I have made this request previously, and I am looking to get a sense from the Minister of how many people require hospitalization in...
I find that a truly terrifying statistic, and I am a little concerned that it took this long for me to hear that one third of our residents are in that category, because I really do think it shows the significant risk we are at. One of my other concerns is that there is a lot of different data out there showing how deadly COVID-19 is and what actually its effect on a population are. I'm not looking for specific modelling. I'm looking to get a sense of, given there is one third of our population at risk, and based on the number of people in the Northwest Territories, if COVID-19 is spreading...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With each day as our population ages, this Assembly's priority of enabling our seniors to age in place with dignity gains more importance.
Mr. Speaker, when dealing with our seniors, we must make our most compassionate selves take the lead. We must celebrate our elders for enriching our lives and building our futures. In our communities, unfortunately, we have created a system of healthcare that often asks many of our seniors make the impossible choice between aging in their community or being placed in a long-term care facility away from their homes. This tragedy is...
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am fully supportive of this recommendation. I just wanted to speak to what I see are some very easy steps we could take. I don't understand why all of our housing units don't have free Wi-Fi in them. As far as I am concerned, we are providing people housing. Let's put Wi-Fi in them. That is something the NWT Housing Corporation, I think, can do tomorrow. Secondly, I know more and more jurisdictions are giving people cell phones. When you get income assistance, you get a cell phone through it. Victim Services has started to do some of that work, but it's the same kind...