Wendy Bisaro

Gee, $10 for 30,000 plates. That is pretty cheap. What I was looking for was the cost to the government. I know the Minister, yesterday I think, said that this is going to be cost neutral, but I was looking for a total cost. I mentioned as well in my statement that we pay a vehicle registration fee, some $82.60 if you’re registering a vehicle. So I estimate that amount for 30,000 plates or vehicles to be about $2.5 million or more annually. I’d like to ask the Minister what that money is used for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about the new redesigned licence plate in my statement and I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation this morning. In answer to Mr. Menicoche the other day, he spoke about the intent of this program, this implementation program for the new plates, and I understand the intent that they want to get people using the new plate, but I’m having difficulty with the fact that we are being forced to buy the new plate. So I’d like to ask the Minister why the Department of Transportation is forcing residents to buy this new plate. Why can’t we keep the old...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was remiss earlier as I didn’t have the names of two Pages from the riding of Frame Lake who have been working here this week. I’d like to thank them for their service and welcome Mikaela Tuccaro and Branden Horn.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear an answer to my question. I heard an answer to the second question, not the third one. But I’d like to ask the Minister now, Mrs. Groenewegen had a wonderful suggestion of which would actually generate revenue for us, so I would like to ask the Minister if that would be a consideration that when people come to register their vehicle in this next 18-month period, will they be allowed to, (a), keep their plate and pay $10, or will they be allowed to hand their plate in for zero dollars? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister and I must have missed something in that translation. I didn’t realize that we weren’t meeting industry standards. I thought it was a matter of reflection and so on. I have a hard time when the Minister says that the people aren’t being forced to, if you need a new plate. I don’t need a new one, I need a sticker, I don’t need the plate, but we’ll leave it at that.

I’d like to ask the Minister what is the cost to the government. What was the cost? What is the cost going to be for us to find a new manufacturer and to produce these new plates? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to wade into the debate on our redesigned licence plates today. I cannot express strongly enough how glad I am that we kept the polar bear shape. Judging by what I heard from my constituents, I suspect that there might have been a revolt amongst our residents if the shape had been changed.

I can accept that there was a need to modernize and update the slogan, so that change is spectacular. But I am having difficulty with the new design, the added colour and the silhouette. I have to wonder if in the dead of winter in the dark and the snow, the plate won’t look...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few more questions, as well, for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to follow up on the questions that I’d asked previously. One of the town hall meetings was held here in Yellowknife and during that town hall meeting -- actually, no, that’s not true, it was at a meeting that was held at the Baker Centre -- one of the attendees at that meeting stated in reference to the proposed program that’s put forward that the government can do better than this. Somebody else then suggested that this is probably the best that this government can do, that...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister in her answer said that she is going to listen to committee’s concerns and I can advise being on that committee that there are many concerns and the Minister will be getting a summary of our concerns shortly, I believe. She said that she is willing to work on it. That is positive, but I really wonder whether or not when she hears committee’s concerns, she is actually going to act on it. She also said that this is going to apply to the vast majority of people. My concern is for that minority who are going to become medically bankrupt. The Minister is ignoring that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I want to follow up a bit on my statement today and from yesterday as well.

You know, it’s said, Mr. Speaker, that a society is judged by its treatment of children, the sick and the elderly. I think we in the NWT want to be judged well. We want to feel that our society is a good one and I think we put programs in place to look after our children, our sick and our elderly. So it leads to the idea of a safety net, which the Minister has referred to quite a number of times in our discussion over...

The Minister says she has rejected all the possibilities except the one before us. She’s saying trust us, our analysis is perfect. Well, I can’t accept that. If an analysis of all the options has been done, where are the results of that work? Why has it not been presented to Regular Members so we can evaluate the decision for ourselves?

I have to ask again today the question I posed yesterday: how will this government help residents who face huge financial burdens due to medical conditions costs? Where is the safety net that the Minister keeps referring to for these medically bankrupted...