Sandy Lee

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, I must say I have a different interpretation. I read that letter quite differently. I reviewed it a number of times, and a lot of thought was put into that. If I remember correctly, the letter I sent to him said that there is, in fact, an after-care program, where the Northern residents are sent to.

For anybody who is involved in wanting to deal with their addiction, the most important part of recovering and living an addiction-free life is self-motivation and self-discipline. The letter did indicate that where the residents are sent to institutional settings, they work out the...

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question.

It is my understanding that tests have been done but the results are not out yet. We are expecting the results today.

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...

Absolutely, I don’t think any of us want to be paying for health care benefits for other than those who are residents here.

We do have a large transient population. We get about 150 applications a week for health care cards. So we are building in a process to make sure that we do monthly audits. There are audits being done of all these files on a daily basis and a monthly basis to look at any kind of pattern of out-of-jurisdiction claims, whether of services or medication for extended periods of time. Whether there’s inactive/activity on file for any length of time, we want to make sure that...

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.