Sandy Lee

Right now the authorities are set up as a board of management and they do have independent power and authority to use the money from within. So the Member knows that in terms of the mental health worker, I did issue a directive and we were able to correct that. With the health and social services staffing, under the current system it’s not as easily done. That’s why I’m committing with the Member that we will look at how we could change the way we are delivering the service so that we could work at looking at what each community has in terms of essential services. If we’re willing to come up...

Mr. Speaker, the Foundation for Change Action Plan is designed to look at our system to see how we can make structural changes in order that we can enhance our level of care and services in small communities. That work is not complete. We have just introduced that. We are working to bring back to the Members across to see what kind of changes we need to make so that we can strengthen the services in areas that the Member is talking about.

The Member is right; we face a number of challenges demographically, in terms of location, in terms of shortage of health professionals, but I agree with the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a group of strong, wise and hardworking women in the gallery today, and I’d like to introduce them: Lyda Fuller is the most recent recipient of the Wise Woman Award, and also the executive director of the YWCA; Lorraine Phaneuf, who is the executive director of the Status of Women Council of the NWT; Annemieke Mulders, program manager for the Status of Women Council; Irene Savoy, office manager of the Status of Women Council; and Marilyn Hardisty, project officer for Northern Women in Mining, Oil and Gas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Veterinary Profession Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Veterinary Profession Act to provide that an applicant for registration in the Veterinary Register who is not already registered as a veterinarian in a province or territory must have been granted a certificate of qualification upon successful completion of examinations set by the National Examining Board of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. Provisions pertaining to registration fees are...

Yes, I will undertake to get that information to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that there are defibrillators in every community and there are staff allocated and trained to use that piece of equipment. Thank you.

The Member is absolutely right; we want to have consistency across the programs that our extended health benefits should be in line with what is covered under NIHB. The improvement to NIHB, if needed, should be advanced as well. But those programs should go up together. I’m not sure if our extended health benefits are much more lucrative than the other.

The point is, we need to open this discussion so that people understand what the extended health benefits are. These are extra benefits that are being provided and there are some people in our system who are not able to access that at all...

Yes, if services can be provided either in Inuvik or Stanton, I will ask the staff to make sure that they consider both options. Also, yes, I agree with the Member that we do need to do more and better to have a more smooth transition of patients, that we need to keep better track of what’s being cancelled. Just better coordination. That is something that my deputy minister and I are focusing on, because we are reviewing the Medical Travel Program. I hope to report back to the Member on how we can improve that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the first time that I’ve heard the specific facts that the Member has stated. I will be happy to work with the Member and see how we can improve that.

The consultation that we are doing right now on the basis of the public discussion paper we have out there is geared toward having a discussion about that, explaining what our extended health benefits are doing right now. Right now anybody who is over 60 or with a specified condition that is on the list gets 100 percent coverage no questions asked, as long as they have NWT health care. What the program does not provide is for those who are not 60 or who are not eligible for the specified medical condition and they do not have insurance coverage. Even if they don’t have any insurance coverage...