Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the fact that the Minister gave me a little bit of a history lesson on the 14th Assembly, Mr. Speaker, but we’re a year into the 15th Assembly and I can appreciate that the 14th had priorities as well. Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about real life waiting times. I’m talking about where people have to wait six or eight hours. If you are a mother with a child who has to go get them fed, you just can’t sit there and wait; or you’re a senior, you can’t sit there forever. Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about dealing with the six or eight-hour service...

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.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to move the NWT Housing Corporation Minister’s statement into Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Thank you. I guess from a Member's point of view, it certainly would have been nice to deal with this issue in the May-June session. I can appreciate that FMBS may have screened it out, but this is a decision before the House and I would have thought that hearing some of the timelines of the organization in May, how we were able to get our numbers together for the bodies portion, the workers portion for the May session. I find that almost kind of strange not to have been brought to us in May. I’m sure there is a reason why it wouldn’t have been brought to Members for a full discussion...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess maybe my next stage is more a comment. I just find it very unusual. I am in favour of the expenditure. I’m in favour of the clinic. I’m in favour of it in almost every sense, except for the special warrant process. The special warrant process doesn’t provide me any comfort. Just looking and trying to understand some of the timelines and the fact that this wasn’t brought to the House, it feels like it kind of slipped under the radar before it was brought to Members. I don’t agree with arguing it on the principle of the costs. I think the principle I’m...