Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to raise the concern of publishing our public sector salaries. I’m referring to our senior public service, not those who are in the middle or the lower end of the pay scale. This obviously has true accountability and transparency measures and wants that are desperately called for by the public.

In the past, I’ve pointed out that New Brunswick, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. have seen the light on this particular issue, and each province, in their own way, have found a range of salary and public disclosures to ensure that they continue to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The man that cannot be ignored up there is Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford, who served this House and the people of the Northwest Territories for many years and I look forward to the many years ahead of us working together. Mr. Whitford, it’s great to see you, too, sir.

This is an important issue; it’s not a new issue. Northerners are in pain, Northerners are suffering, Northerners need help. What is this Minister willing to do as far as his briefing binder will tell him? Turn to that page and tell Northerners what the commitment is. Would the Minister do that for us?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 7th of this year, in this House, MLA Moses was asking about detox beds. The response from the Minister of Health and Social Services of the day was he said that there would be two detox beds in the North and there would be two detox beds in the South. This was very welcome news to people in Yellowknife. However, we continue to wait. The capital plan has just passed us and yet we’ve seen no results of these commitments. The Minister made a commitment. So the question to the Minister is: When will we see a promise made is a promise delivered? Thank you.

Study after study keeps pointing out its significant risk on youth. We have an obligation. We restrict cigarettes for youth. We restrict access to alcohol to youth. Why aren’t we doing the right thing and restricting access to tanning beds to youth? There’s an immediate opportunity here today. The Minister could issue an order for promotion activities to bring forward this concern, and we could also agree to work on a policy to restrict access for youth. Will he do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to start with first and most important visitor to recognize, and I’m going to start with David Hamilton, the first Clerk here. I’ve known David so long. I remember when we were both the same height and we both had lots of hair. It’s been a long time from those days in Fort Simpson. I’ve known him a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him at the old Ledge many years ago in many capacities. To him, I’m very grateful for always being a mentor to me.

In the gallery we have many people. They’ve already been mentioned, but I think they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a couple of weeks we have the operations plan. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do on the addictions issue. There was no capital investment for detox. Promised, but never delivered.

Will this Minister be working towards the operation plan in a few weeks, which is in about four weeks in early December? Will he be making a commitment in this House that he’ll work to deliver those detox beds in that plan? Otherwise, there should be a clear statement that this government is not interested in this issue.

The Minister’s binder would probably have a nice tab on this particular issue and I would encourage him to turn to that tab and read that page. Yellowknife continues to feel the cold shoulder of results and commitment by this government, especially on the issue of addictions. Northerners want addictions treatment.

Would the Minister read what the breaking binder page says on the tab and go to that tab and tell us what the Department of Health is doing on the detox issue?

This is not a new issue. I hear the Minister say he’s going to work on this. It’s well within his purview. He’s heard this concern many times. I can even hear on the microphone he’s being whispered to by somebody over there. Maybe somebody over there can help guide him with this immediate concern. I’d like immediate action.

Would the Minister be able to, at the very least, start a public campaign stressing the concern noted by the World Health Organization as well as the Skin Cancer Foundation, by stressing the risk that youth can have by doing tanning sessions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The World Health Organization has classified tanning beds as carcinogenic. The Skin Cancer Foundation qualifies it as ultraviolet tanning sessions increase a user’s chances of developing melanoma by 20 percent. Lastly, those who begin tanning before the age of 35 increase their chances of getting melanoma by almost 75 percent.

I keep raising the issue of tanning beds and the concerns on our youth. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is – this is not a new issue – what is he now going to do about this problem.