Sandy Lee

I don’t have a specific date, but Stanton has delayed and lowered the number of elective surgeries in January and February.

I will undertake to get the information from the public health officer about the level of communication she has with the communities that use fluoridation in their water.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, a large part of what the public health officer does is to advise, inform and communicate to the residents about public health issues. She has communicated information in the past. I’ve had inquiries about pros and cons of fluoride from our residents and the public health officer has communicated to that. She has also indicated to me that she is willing to talk to anybody who wants to have more information about concerns about fluoride. I can tell the Member that she communicates also through websites and other means. Mr. Speaker, that is part of her job. Thank you.

I’ve already made a commitment to get back to the Member on the exact description of this equipment. It’s the level of detail that I do not keep here, so I will get back to the Member on exactly what date and what equipment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I indicated that I did not know the exact date, but we have had delay and cancellation of elective surgeries in January and February. I do not know exactly what date, but I would be happy to get that for the Member. Thank you.

As I stated, it’s up to the municipalities to do this. The CPHO sets the standards and they do that. There is the appropriate jurisdiction. I can also add that the many governments and health organizations, including Health Canada, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Dental Association, the Canadian Medical Association and the World Health Organization endorse the fluoridation of drinking water as a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay, which is actually quite a serious issue in the North. Community water fluoridation has been identified by the U.S. Centre for Disease...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to let the Member know that the decision to add fluoride rests with the municipal governments. The department is responsible for setting maximum limits and monitoring fluoride levels in water. The chief medical health officer supports the addition of fluoride to drinking water as a measure to prevent tooth decay. At this time in the NWT, there are only three communities that fluoridate their drinking water: Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife. Wrigley has natural fluoride in their water. It is the municipalities that can make the decisions on fluoridization. The...

I have to go back to the opening principle of this budget, which is we do not have a whole lot of new initiatives. So we do not have anything new, I don’t think, than what was there before.

Having said that, the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority is working on a traditional healing project. We are looking to see what... It’s a study on how to apply some of the traditional practices into modern medicine. It’s not to replace modern medicine but to make more traditional healing practices compatible to modern medicine. We expect that will be done shortly and we need to look for ways to...

I don’t think I could counter that. I think that’s something that could be argued. All sin taxes we have to weigh the balance between providing a disincentive by raising the taxes, but we are aware that those who are severely addicted will get those items no matter what, against their self-interest and the well-being of themselves and the families around them. The flip side of that coin is if even without taxes being raised, probably those other people who because of their addiction issues do not spend money where they should be, on their families, anyway. I don’t think there’s any right or...

Mr. Speaker, we do have a set process on hiring and job description and such that is actually within the mandate of HR. For me, for now, what I want to indicate to the Member and the local leadership in Fort Good Hope is that I like the idea that they are proposing. I would like to see how we can work together to make that happen, because we need to agree on the proposal, agree on the sort of job description and what it is that we are expecting this new position to do. It is about doing things differently within the resources we have. But, so far, I am very interested in pursuing that proposal...