Sandy Lee

Thank you. Could I ask the Minister to engage his officials to do more, take an extra step? Maybe they are doing that already, but maybe I can get a confirmation from the Minister. I know that not everyone goes through realtors, but a lot of people go through realtors when they buy properties. When you are closing your transaction, realtors have packages of information for purchasers to be aware of whether they're banking, insurance information, fuel delivery and such. I am wondering if the Minister’s department will make a conscious effort to get those documents to them. I am assuming...

I’m sorry, Madam Chair. Before we go to clause by clause, I would like to just put on record that the Minister’s commitment that would be binding I would think to the next government, that at the earliest opportunity they bring legislation forward to enable professional corporations. Could I ask the Minister to confirm that for the record? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe I should also say hi to Emily and Myra. They should keep watching and run for office some day.

Madam Chair, the committee held public hearings on Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act, in Yellowknife on April 19th and 20th; on May 8th in Tuktoyaktuk; in Inuvik on April 23rd; in Ulukhaktok on April 24th; in Colville Lake on April 25th; and in Behchoko on April 26, 2007.

The committee would like to thank the Minister and the one witness who spoke to this bill on April 19, 2007. The committee heard from Glen Tait, a lawyer in private practice in Yellowknife. Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier’s sessional statement indicated that the negotiations are underway and that construction could begin as early as this fall. So I’d like to ask the Minister about what the timeline is. While he cannot reveal all the details, it certainly sounds like the deals are imminent. So could he give us an indication as to whether it’s weeks away or months away or what is the timeline of that negotiation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize family of my constituents who moved from Edmonton area to my riding. Even though we don’t have VTA, the father came here to work for the GNWT and mother’s working at the bank here. Parents are not here, but I’d like to recognize Mr. Clemens Park and Mr. David Park and with them are my assistant Cathy Olson and her husband Mike Olson. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to this Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act; Bill 2, and Act to Amend the Condominium Act; and Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Legal Services Act, and wishes to report that Bills 1, 2 and 3 are now ready for Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Bills 1, 2 and 3 be moved into Committee of the Whole for Thursday, May 10, 2007. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand we need to have front-line care in the communities and also the argument is that because a lot of our cancer care and even surgeries are done with Edmonton Capital Health Authority that we are addressing it that way. But you could switch that. The reason we are relying on them is because we have been without a second surgeon for a long time. We are having a hard time recruiting that. We have a waiting list on surgeries for hips and joints. We haven’t had a full staff diagnostic imaging in a long time. So I think it is important for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement, I raised a number of issues. I want to start with one of them today. The question is about the announcement that was made on the wait times by the federal government and his territorial counterparts about a month ago in the Great Hall. I would like to ask the Minister of Health a question about how that proposal, in terms of how it relates to the North, has come about. The federal statement stated that the wait times would gear towards five categories. Some of them being cancer treatment, diagnostic imaging and surgical...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, keeping up with the past convention, I hosted a pre-session constituency meeting at Range Lake North School this past Monday and I was pleased to spend the evening listening to and sharing information with the valued members of my constituency whom, although few in number, had a lot of advice and assignments for me to work on during this session and beyond, Mr. Speaker, and as we begin our short session today I'd like to tell you about some of them.

They would like, Mr. Speaker, me to keep working hard to resolve the intolerable situation surrounding the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to nurses, nurses don’t do surgeries. Surgeons do surgeries and they don’t do diagnostic imaging. Primary health facilities, while they are important, don’t do these either. These are important wait times. I beg to differ with the Minister in that we do have our own problems here and wait times to deal with. First of all, I would like to ask the Minister to commit to giving us information as to how he compares us with the rest of the country. I would like to ask the Minister to commit to providing that information and also his...