Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I expressed my concerns about the implementation of the Supplementary Health Benefit Policy and suggested that it will create a new class of working poor: the medically bankrupted. It’s eminently clear that Cabinet must be provided with a few real life examples of the effect this policy will have on our residents in order for them to understand the magnitude of the problems that this policy will cause.

So the first example: An MLA who, of course, has third-party insurance, similar to all GNWT employees, and who needs a drug to treat a specific...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

The items listed below are suggestions gathered from Members and NWT residents for efficiencies or alternate funding of the proposed changes to the Supplementary Health Benefits Program

Will the Minister provide me with a list which shows the pros and cons of each suggestion and that provides the ranking given to each option by the Department of Health and Social Services or the Cabinet?

increase income tax;

devise a form of government-assisted, third-party insurance for low income families;

use graduating...

I guess I don’t really have a response to that and I’ll just leave it at that. I think we could argue the philosophy in that article, on the comparisons in the article, for quite some time.

I need to ask the Minister, again, I think I’ve asked this before but there are any number of different ways that this coverage of people who are not currently covered could get funded. I want to know from the Minister why that hard work and that analysis was not done. There was hard work required to find the different way to do it that didn’t marginalize certain people and I don’t believe that’s been done...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Tabled Document 30-16(5) has been tabled in this House;

AND WHEREAS the 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits requires detailed consideration;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Tabled Document 30-16(5), 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to mention that I believe later on today we’re going to receive a number of petitions protesting the changes to the Supplementary Health Benefit Program. My understanding is that the names on these petitions total about 3,000 people. That’s some 7 or 8 percent of our population and that’s a significant number.

So I’d like to ask the Minister: in hearing that there are 3,000 people who have concerns about this program, what does that say to the Minister? And I would ask her to comment on this information and will that have any impact on her...

Thank you. I’m not sure I heard an answer to my question. I agree that the people who are currently uncovered do need to be covered and, again, I don’t think there’s anybody that disagrees with that. My question had to do with the implementation that is currently being proposed, and that was my question. Why does the policy, in its current format, have to be implemented now? I don’t believe I heard an answer to that. Absolutely we need to cover people, but I think there have been at least eight or 10 suggestions from the general public, from Members, that could cover the costs of the people...