Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve heard plan, plan, and plan. The fact is we can plan until we’re blue in the face. The fact is we want to know, I want to know, the public wants to know what the GNWT is supporting. Are they supporting the closure of the municipal airport? At what cost are they supporting the closure of the municipal airport? Are they supporting it in the context that there will be a triage built? What does that actually mean to me? What does it mean to the Assembly? What does it mean to the general public? What is the GNWT supporting in this possible eventuality? That’s the type of...

We’ve come to one of the main issues that seem to be the problem. It’s no different than this draft AIP problem and certainly with the health one, which is the fact of who is communicating our message to the government. It’s no different than when I had asked for plain language on the other issue. We need plain language on this particular issue to make sure that people know what’s happening.

What is the Minister doing to communicate to the public exactly the territorial government’s plan? What is the message by this government to ensure that the health care of all Northerners will be enshrined...

Mr. Speaker, although I enjoy question period to be disagreeable, which is my right, the reality is I think the Minister is incorrect on this particular occasion, because massage therapists, some of them do belong to national organizations, and I will say that’s correct, but they don’t have to be -- and certainly if you’re in the chiropractic industry you’re not obligated, to my knowledge -- associated with any public body or national body. If you said that they were self-regulating, there are only a couple of them, so, I mean, that’s really challenging.

Mr. Speaker, in light of that, what can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. At the start of the term I raised the issue of the lack of legislation regulations for massage therapy and still we have seen nothing to date, that I’m aware of. The reason I raise that is because recently someone had brought to my attention that there is no legislation or regulations set up for chiropractors in the services in the Northwest Territories. With some looking in the issue, I found that we do not have anything, although it’s considered a normal type of legislation throughout Canada.

Mr. Speaker...

I appreciate the Minister’s answer. As I’ve highlighted a few times in this House this term and certainly the last term, my concern about red tape and a red-tape bureaucracy, and B.C. has a red-tape Minister. If they bring in a new regulation, they have to take away two. The point being is they don’t want to continue burdening industry as well as the everyday person with more rules and unnecessary regulations.

The Minister had said this is a draft and I’ll accept his statement that it is a draft. My concern is the draft will roll into this is the way it will be before costing out these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the WSCC regulations and the concerns that the regulations won’t take into consideration the feelings and worries of industry, both small and medium. As I highlighted continually, that small and medium industry certainly is our breadbasket in our economy and if we don’t do everything we can to keep them competitive, it makes it very challenging for them to keep up and running.

My question to the Minister is: I understand that the WSCC has extended its feedback deadline, which certainly has been received positively. However...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The point I am trying to get at, and I am sure the Minister understands this, is the fact that public safety is at risk out there. There is a leap of faith people are taking when they go to these places, that they are insured at one level or not that they are protected as well as they are regulated. What I am asking the Minister is: Is there perhaps, maybe a discussion paper that could come forward that we could work on and develop to see what type of priority fits with the ambition of this government and this term as well as the ambition of the next government going...

Mr. Speaker, each profession can speak about the importance of their legislative requirements and regulations on how important they may or may not be over, certainly, other ones, but I can assure you that there is a concern about health and safety. If one can only imagine that if they’re laying on a chiropractor’s table and someone’s twisting their neck, what type of rules, education and authority have they played to ensure that they’re safe at that particular time.

Mr. Speaker, the point I’m getting at is there’s a health and safety issue on both issues, massage as well as chiropractic, that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that answer. That’s the type of answer they’re certainly looking for, is that the WSCC will listen and certainly evaluate, if not consider their response.

The other problem with changes to the regulations is the reality that changes mean money. One of the big fears is the cost of any of these potential regulations that will be happening. May I remind this House, and the Minister knows this, that there are almost 400 pages of regulations being updated. What is the WSCC doing to ensure that the administrative burden is not being ploughed down onto industry when...