Sandy Lee

Just to correct the Member’s statement, the public advisory group that I was referring to is a group of NGOs, and that includes the NWT Council of Persons with Disabilities, YWCA, the Centre for Northern Families, Yellowknife seniors and NWT seniors. So, meetings were held with those groups. There was internal working groups of DMs and appropriate resources within the government so that we could pull information together that could help with the public discussion.

The Member is asking, did we look at the analysis of changes. That’s something that we could do and if the Member knows that the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes I do.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to introduce Bill 3, Medical Profession Act.

This Bill 3 replaces the current Medical Profession Act and modernizes the processes for the registration and discipline of medical practitioners in the Northwest Territories. Bill 3 was developed through a collaborate effort by the Department of Health and Social Services and representatives of the Northwest Territories Medical Association and their legal counsel.

Mr. Chairman, the existing act is almost 30 years old and is significantly out of date. In the provinces, regulatory colleges...

I will have to speculate a little bit. I’m not going to speculate. I can tell the Member -- and I think that’s what the Member is getting at -- I believe the department is prepared to implement with any changes of the policy within three months. So for September 1st implementation, by June they will be ready to implement it in September.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, this policy was changed by the last government in 2007. My job was to implement those changes. The first time out, the public and the Members wanted us to review the changes. We are now ready to go back with some of the hard facts about the program: what it does, how does it work, what is it for, how is it different from the Canada Health Act. So we are going back to the public to have that discussion. Originally this was scheduled to be implemented in April 2009 and it’s been delayed to September this year, so that’s the date. I believe the...

Obviously that is part of the process. I will make sure that there is a reminder, as per the Member’s concern. I need to reiterate that we as a system take this situation very seriously. This is the reason why the government issued clinical guidelines. I don’t want people out there to think that people aren’t getting services that they desperately need. There are other measures being taken to make sure that people are screened for possible colon cancer. There are stool samples that are collected at the doctors’ offices. There is advice given about the dangers of this. Any man or woman over 50...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once a referral for a colonoscopy is made to Stanton, that referral is received immediately. It’s taken into account immediately and Stanton staff works to prioritize the list of referrals. It’s really important to note that people who need this procedure on an emergency basis get them.

A wait list for this sort of procedure is an issue all across the country. Stanton is not an exception and they are working to find efficiencies within the system to make sure that the service is used as efficiently as possible.

I believe I answered those questions in the Member’s previous questions. The stakeholder group, the public working group, will be involved in this process, so will all the other NGOs, health authorities, individuals. We are interested in talking to the public about what this program is.

The Member had a number of questions about how much it costs. That is all the information that will be answered at a town hall meeting. We have designed the discussion to be as open and widely conversational as possible. We are presenting the public with essential information for them to start their discussions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The way the policy is right now, the implementation is to be on September 1, 2010. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to proceed with third reading of Bill 3, Medical Profession Act. Thank you.