Sandy Lee

Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, May 17, 2010, I will move that Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act, be read for the first time.

The program we have now for providing for a casket is for the indigent only, which means people on income support. There is a very specific amount of money that is allocated for that. The problem is when the families want to go with something more costly, because they want to, as the Member said, do the best for their families. We currently do not have a program that would do that. Lots of back and forth that goes on is that staff are clear about what they are able to purchase. It’s the people who want to do more and we do not have programs for that. If the Member wants to pursue that and work...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct in his concern that we do not have a policy or program funding to accommodate a family of our people when they are dying or when they are sick for any length of time. The only thing we have is a medical escort to medical travel. It’s limited to one person and usually for a very specific period of time. If the Member is interested in working as a committee chair to pursue this further, we could analyze that and see what the cost implications are and what the scope and breadth of that program might be. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize a very impressive young constituent from Range Lake. His name is Timothy Riviere. I know he’s known to all of us because his mother works here, but he’s famous in his own right because for the third year in a row he’s going to be shaving his head -- well, shaving his hair -- to raise money for cancer. He is also captain of his own relay team this year called Relay Rink Rats for Relay for Life, which raised the money as well.

His personal goal is to raise $3,500 this year. I’m sure he will meet that. There are pledge sheets...

As I indicated in the House, every health authority, every health profession, professionals have a very strict protocol on patient records and medical information and they are to follow those protocols. When there are situations like this as sometimes does happen, then you have to investigate and work with the Privacy Commissioner to make sure those breaches don’t happen again and we are doing that with the latest information. Thank you.

I’m sure if I read all of those 3,000, which I will, I probably know almost all of them. This is not impersonal to me. This is not just an issue that we’re talking about. This is very near and dear to me, as well. I talked to the people. I know who was at those meetings. I know people who are writing me. I’ve known them for all of my life here. I understand that this is a very, very pressing issue and dear issue, Mr. Speaker.

So we will continue to work on this package. We have done everything we can to… We have done a lot of work. The Department of Health and Social Services spent a majority...

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, the Minister and this Cabinet and this Legislature has to consider supplementary health benefits in the context. As the Member for Sahtu has mentioned, and others, the government is responsible for insured benefits as well as non-insured. Supplementary health is non-insured. The government has a priority to use its money on insured services. For non-insured services, it is to come up with a program that is as fair and as equitable as possible. We have to realize that there is some personal investment that has to be made into this program. We are asking...

We are suggesting a cap that we are discussing with the committee. Thank you.

Because, Mr. Speaker, we are far from aiming at anything low. I am going to table this Slave River Journal article written by a small newspaper agency in Fort Smith. They took their time to do a cross-country survey on what is available. Even the Yukon has a program for seniors that are over 65. Every program is income tested. Every program has deductibles. Why do we have to compare with the rest of Canada?

The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, health care is important. We need to be able to fund it. We need to focus our energy on core health. When we are talking about delivering programs in...