Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I asked an awful lot of questions in my statement and I’d like to go back to some of those questions and ask some of them of the Minister of Health and Social Services, to try and get some answers to some of those questions.

In order to try and, again, get some clarity for my constituents, I’d like to ask the Minister why such a divisive Supplementary Health Benefits Policy, dated September 2007, is being implemented. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up today on my questions from yesterday. I want to speak to the unfair Supplementary Health Benefits Policy being implemented by the Minister of Health and Social Services.

The Minister has often mentioned the words “fair and equal” in relation to this policy, and no one disputes the need to put in place benefits for those who are currently left out. That we must do to make things fair. But I fail to understand how eliminating access to benefits for only some of our residents, which this policy will do, can be called fair. I fail to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think our best package is a long way from what we currently have in front of us. The Minister has said that she is covering some. I agree. We are covering some, but we are uncovering others and that is not the right way to go. I mentioned in my statement that my vision is an NWT where all people live, work and play as equals. What is the Minister’s vision for our Territory?

Thank you. Thanks to the Minister for her view. I have to agree to disagree. Again, this is a divisive policy, because it targets only a certain portion of our residents. I asked in my statement, as well, why does this policy have to be implemented now and what is so pressing that it has to be done at this particular moment, and many people have expressed concerns with the policy, have expressed concerns that the implementation that’s being put forward is not the right way to go. I don’t think the Minister has heard from anybody on this side of the House, that the people who are currently...

We are solving one problem but we are creating another problem by solving the first one. By implementing this policy, we will establish a class of residents who are medically bankrupted, a new class of working poor, except they’re only poor because their government believes in unfairness and inequality. What policy will Cabinet put in place, then, to help those families and individuals who are desperately struggling financially? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to add a little bit to this debate. I think what I heard Mr. Ramsay expressing, certainly in terms of the description of the Minister, was, it might have been a little out of line, but he was suggesting that he was describing her actions. Again, that’s up to you to determine whether or not that was correct.

As to the statement about the government being fair and equitable and the division of people along racial lines, I have to say that I don’t believe that’s impugning the motive of the government. I think that’s an interpretation of a policy which is before us...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Members of this House and the general public know that the Standing Committee on Social Programs is currently conducting a review of the Child and Family Services Act. I want to provide some of my comments on a very successful round of community consultations which committee undertook last month.

Over a period of three weeks, we visited 10 communities: Ndilo, Lutselk’e, Hay River, Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, Ulukhaktok, Tulita and Yellowknife. We held 10 town hall meetings. We had the opportunity to meet community leaders and discuss their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members have heard, this Legislature played host last week to the first ever NWT Elders’ Parliament, and elders from across the Territory debated issues of great importance to them and also us. One of which was supplementary health benefits. I wish to table a motion that was adopted unanimously by the elders, a motion that recommends that existing supplementary health benefits coverage to seniors be continued. The motion also states that further consultation, study and revision is required before changes to seniors’ supplementary health benefits are implemented...

I’d like to thank the Minister for a lesson on information that I already know. I’d like to also state that we’re not in other parts of the country. We’re in the NWT and we have a policy which currently works in most cases. I agree totally that we need to cover the people who are not currently covered, but what we are doing is solving one problem and creating another. I need to discuss with the Minister some of the examples that my constituents have given to me of how they are going to be in financial hardship based on the information that we currently have. I don’t gather that it’s changing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister for Health and Social Services. As other Members have said today and as the general public may be aware, recently the Minister published the policy titled Supplementary Health Benefits Policy, dated September of 2007. It’s become crystal clear that the implementation of any changes to the Extended Health Benefits Program as the Minister is proposing can only be done through means testing, something which was not crystal clear before. I feel the Minister has led us down, and the public down, the garden path for about a...