Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that government has a responsibility, the Minister has a responsibility and we have a responsibility to respond to the people that bring forward serious allegations. So far, even talking to the Member, I do not have any specific information about what the situations are. That is why I am asking anybody out there who has concerns about a physician, they should follow this complaint process.

Mr. Speaker, so far what we are hearing is what we heard from somebody else. Mr. Speaker, the legislation states the board of inquiry, for example, could be open to the...

...not lie. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say lie.

The legislation sets out a very clear process on the steps that a complaint would go through. A board of inquiry would obviously follow the administrative rules which speak to apprehension of bias, making sure there is no apprehension of bias and natural justice and all that. Mr. Speaker, my role in that regard is to appoint the Members into that board of inquiry, and the Medical Profession Act states clearly how that inquiry will take place and then they will make recommendations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have waited until today to raise this point of order because I wanted to review yesterday’s Hansard.

On Tuesday, May 11th, during the question period. Mr. Abernethy said, and I quote from page 27 of the unedited Hansard for that day: “So what she is saying, that they are not covered, it is not completely true. It is doublespeak. She is saying one thing when really she is trying to say another…”

Mr. Speaker, the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines doublespeak as, “language used to deceive, usually through concealment or...

Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe there was ever a compassionate policy. I am aware that there is a Medical Travel Policy. If you need a medical escort, you get one. The elders would have an escort. Somebody with a language issue will get an escort. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking me to do a compassionate analysis. Maybe the Member could tell me how do we decide what is more dire: a family who needs to be near a child who has had a transplant, a 90-year-old elder from Fort McPherson who’s dying of cancer who we don’t know how long it will take, somebody who’s had a brain… I’m just thinking of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to add that as Members of this Legislature we do have rules of debate. Sometimes our debates get heated. We are passionate people. We are passionate about the issues that we are fighting for and the people we represent. As the Members of Cabinet, we understand that we need to be accountable and answer questions and we should have a healthy debate on the merits of the policy as they are presented.

I think name calling, I can’t imagine that I could get away with calling any Members on the other side ignorant. That’s not a very nice word. Arrogant. And to...

I believe the Member is speaking about two different things. One is somebody who can be denied medical travel even if someone has a doctor’s note. Yes, that is possible. If a doctor prescribes uninsured service, they will not get medical travel.

The second thing is, the original point that he was suggesting is because of the situation of a family who has had a child needing a transplant is different, we should set up a different policy for that situation.

Mr. Speaker, as dire as the situation is, we get… I’m only aware of one situation, and to set up a whole new policy just for one situation...

Right now, as the program exists, we have a real working mother on Facebook every day. I got on Facebook six months ago. This lady posts every day. She says she’s a single mother with two kids. I need a job with a dental plan. I need a job with a dental plan. And I go, there’s a lady with two kids and she is struggling to pay for our dental care. Under the existing system it is totally possible for somebody making $500,000 a year -- and there are people who make $500,000 a year, good on them -- $200,000, $300,000 with no expenses and they get 100 percent coverage. To me, that is not fair.

Mr. Speaker, the plan is that once a decision is made as to the implementation of this policy, we will be going for RFP to find a service provider such as Blue Cross or any other insurance companies. They are equipped and trained and set up to deliver a program like this. They do that for our other existing GNWT program, as well as the GNWT employee program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The fact of the matter is, we have a supplementary benefits program. The changes we are proposing are not cost-cutting measures. At the same time, we need to make sure that the costs are affordable and reasonable. What we are trying to do is we are realigning the Supplementary Health Benefits Program for non-aboriginal people. What we have now is we cover those who are over 60, and those who have a chronic condition, and those who make under $30,000. We have a group of people among non-aboriginal people who are excluded. The changes we are proposing are to bring them on stream.