Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, the letter the Member is referring to is not before the House. I have a problem with the Member misquoting and misinterpreting that letter. I stand by that letter. That letter has some information that says our workers work in full partnership with anybody who wants help with their addiction issues, whether that be by working with the wellness and addictions workers or by wanting to get treatment. The department and my staff are involved with the process throughout.

I’m just saying that those who go through programs like Poundmaker or any institutional setting, they have a separate...

Mr. Speaker, I should advise the Member and the House that this matter is within the jurisdiction of the DPW and WCB at the moment. They are doing studies of the level of asbestos in the building that’s suspected. Once these results are out, we’ll be moving to the next stage. The Department of Health and Social Services will become involved at that time.

I state for the Member again, that process is in place. Our wellness workers and addiction workers are continually with those who want help. I don’t really understand. That work is being done, and that is my answer.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, it’s not something I can comment on right now. He will see the budget when it gets debated in this House in the next day or two.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is well aware that we will be reviewing our interim appropriation in due course. I believe it is on the agenda. I would not be able to speak about what is in the detail of that.

I would be happy to talk to the Members about some benefits of consolidation of clinics in Yellowknife. It’s a project that has been going on for a very long time. It’s an idea I support. I look forward to having more discussions on that in due course, in the fullness of time.

All the cards, the people who are registered with health cards, are assumed to be residents of the North unless they are proven otherwise. I could advise the House that we get reports from Blue Cross on a regular basis for all out-of-town claims where the services are purchased from outside. We do look at inactive and irregular files to make sure that those claims are from people who live here. We do understand that there is a possibility that among those 5,000 claims we have, there is a possibility. So we’re strengthening our check and balance systems to make sure that all those who have a...

I thank the Member for the question. We are taking steps, both on a long-term and short-term basis.

In the longer term, we will be sending out renewal forms for health care cards in 2009. We're looking at options in detail about what extra measures we could put in place to verify the residency of health care card holders, and what kind of documents we could ask for that, and to meet all the technical requirements in doing so.

We will be looking at possibly asking for tax files as well as asking for physical residential addresses in cases where the address is written down as PO box numbers.

In the...

I don’t know if the Member was there, but I voted for that project in the budget last year. That was in the budget last year. It is not true that all the leases are coming due this year or in the immediate future. It’s a phased expiration of the lease. I am aware of that, and I’m working toward consolidating the clinic in time for those leases coming up. We will have further debate on that, I’m sure, as we are able to review the interim appropriation in coming days — this week and next.

I totally agree with what the Member has to say about the benefits of this program. I don’t think I agree with the Member that the money spent will necessarily be less, because the programming of this is looking at the long term. That’s a benefit to be gained by consolidating the clinics, which will be absorbed by extra programming and extra hours that the medical and health care professionals in Yellowknife want to provide.

It’s a project that is a priority for the department. It’s a priority of mine, and it’s something that I look forward to working on with the Members through the business...

As of October 2007 there were 41,425 residents, according to the latest census. As of February 6, 2008, we have 45,991 health care cards. I can advise you that in the last health care renewal in 2005, we did receive 5,000 health care cards returned, because when the health care cards go out there is a specific instruction that says it cannot be forwarded outside of the jurisdiction. Many of them are cancelled. We expect that we probably will have that this time around, but in the short term, we’re making sure that all claims are from residents and that they in fact live in the Northwest...