Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have that information with me, but I do know that we have looked at other jurisdictions. We recognize that there are various ways that other jurisdictions have gone about renewing their health care or providing health care cards such as decision to go with a picture on the health care card and so on. We have looked at other jurisdictions. Specifically which jurisdictions we looked at and tried to follow, I don’t know which it was. I think we are continuing on with a system that we have developed ourselves. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is a standard process. It is a manual process. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct; the action plan is put together by government, but a lot of the actions are carried out by NGOs that we fund. I have a document here. Yesterday I spoke about the 50 or so NGOs that the Department of Health and Social Services support directly under the disabilities that I think may have perhaps six different organizations that we support within the funding of those NGOs. Our funding some of the action plans were put out. I think there are only a couple of them that are considered to be something that they were not going to carry out. I can go back to the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The 2007 NWT Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities had almost 90 recommendations. Of those recommendations, 41 of those recommendations were completed and 38 of those recommendations are ongoing. Nine of those recommendations were considered incomplete for one reason or another.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to congratulate a few people on the Premier’s Awards that were given out this morning in the Great Hall, people that originate from Tu Nedhe: Danny Beaulieu – my brother, actually – and Heather Beck for their work in the anthrax breakout; Felix Lockhart for his work in the residential school impacts; and also Justin Bailey and Everett McQueen for their work with young people.

I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Jonas and Violet Beaulieu of Fort Resolution who celebrated their 60th anniversary on May 19th in Fort Resolution.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Mr. Speaker, today I’m happy for the people here. Since I have been a kid, I’ve been brought up on the land. The federal government has been our boss, the way we trap, the way we hunt, the way we survive on the land, the animals we kill. If we should shoot a moose or something, we were on the tagging system before. It’s a long way we’ve gone from those days.

We people sitting here, with the agreement that we are signing today, the people who are going to be sitting here after we are here, are going to be the boss of themselves. Right now the federal...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joining my colleague, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in tabling Right from the Start: A Framework for Early Childhood Development in the NWT later today. This framework not only responds to the priorities of this Legislative Assembly, it also answers concerns that are top of mind for the people of the Northwest Territories.

Research informs us about the importance of the first years of a child’s life, and the wisdom of our elders and our communities has confirmed this. The return on early childhood investments has been well documented.

The...

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Dental Profession Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Dental Profession Act to revise the registration requirements for specialists as well as registration and supervision requirements for students. It also amends the composition of the registration committee and creates the position of registrar, replacing the secretary. Finally, the bill makes a change to meet the requirements of the Agreement on Internal Trade in respect of residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Currently, specific to that additional $1.6 million that was allocated, none of that money is allocated. Although it’s targeted, it has not been allocated to any specific project. The majority of the money that will flow, in addition to the money that is already flowing, will probably be added to the NGO contribution policy. Thank you.

Mahsi Cho Mr. Speaker. That money has not been allocated; however, we are close to determining exactly where that money will go. We are going to wait for the completion of both the 10-year framework on early childhood development and the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness to determine where we feel the best places to allocate this money. The money, the majority of it will be going into those to action plans and also some of it will be going directly to NGOs. Thank you.