Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll say thank you, Mr. Minister, for that commitment. Mr. Speaker, I’ll ask for one more commitment from the Minister responsible for Housing in which he did refer to private industry being able to access a pot of funds or a pot of money in order to allow social housing to happen in private buildings. Will he commit to investigate the possibility of applying that policy to anyone who accesses this funding to have those folks in their buildings? Will he commit to seeing that that policy can apply to them as well as in the private industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister is saying about 194 people in our housing. Mr. Speaker, what I’m looking for is a firm commitment on national guidelines, something that is clear cut. Can the Minister commit today that his department will create a policy, be it a booklet or whatever, on national standards and this can be applied to all of our social housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it’s a real crisis because real people mean real money and they are just sitting there. That’s real time lost to both our government, as well as to our world out there. Mr. Speaker, if someone gets tired of waiting after three, four, five hours…I mean, there are priorities and people understand that, but you have to sign a waiver to leave the hospital now. So people do get exhausted and are taking their kids home because they just cannot sit there.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions later for the Minister, but there are just some points I want to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a good answer by the Minister, I’ll say. Mr. Speaker, why are we not looking at setting up a territorial facility to take care of all of the people that we ship out to Edmonton with regard to this situation that I’ve raised with the Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s answer there. That was very clear on this side. Mr. Speaker, my concern is that I’m afraid we’re abandoning these people. Mr. Speaker, my concern is that we’re spending $1,500 a day through different types of placements. We’re spending $1 million a year to no end to treat these people. Are we bringing these people home eventually? Are we taking care of our people? What is the Minister doing to bring these folks home to the Northwest Territories where they belong? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during May of this year, there was a bit of a crisis with persons with severe developmental disabilities in Edmonton who are Northwest Territories citizens. Mr. Speaker, referring back to that crisis, it was about accreditation and some suggestion of abuse. Would the Minister of Health and Social Services be able to update us on that problem that occurred then and what his department has done to solve that crisis? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister raises a couple good points about the book and the 1-800 number and he’s probably very right that they do serve a purpose, because I’ve even used the book and I haven’t had the pleasure of using the 1-800 number yet, but they are services. But, Mr. Speaker, the book has been out for at least two years and the 1-800 number service has been out since the spring of this year. Mr. Speaker, we are still dealing with six and eight-hour waiting periods. Mr. Speaker, I can’t refer to it too much, but there is a survey being done by this hospital at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be to the Minister of Health and Social Services and I will refer back to my Member’s statement as I’ve said earlier with my concerns about the waiting period. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is what is the Department of Health and Social Services doing about waiting times and what are they doing to supply reasonable tools for those staff who work there in the emergency room and I consider, at this time, human resources important tools to get the job done? What is the Minister doing about this problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to talk about the waiting times in the emergency rooms and our clinics in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I’ve heard that you can wait three to four days if you’re absolutely lucky to get into an appointment at a clinic. You’re lucky to find a spot. Normally you have to wait two, three, and even sometimes four weeks to get an appointment with the doctor in one of those clinics. That’s, of course, again, if you’re lucky enough to have a family doctor. Mr. Speaker, at this time, clinics offer you suggestions, if it’s a high priority, to march on down to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recognizing that we do have clients with high needs, I do appreciate that. But the fact is they’re gone. They’re down there and from the sounds of it, it’s as if they’re going to be there forever. Why are we not working towards establishing a northern facility to take care of our own people? Why are we not looking at investing in the Northwest Territories? It doesn’t matter where, but why are we not taking those steps to invest in the Northwest Territories to take care of our people with our dollars? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.