Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use my Member’s statement today to talk about a number of medical support programs that have been failing our people. I’ve taken these to the Minister’s office lately and I’m noticing a serious trend: our medical travel process is not supporting the people, in my view, the way it should be.

First off, medical travel, in my view, seems to have this overriding control over what doctors would request as required treatment. Now, of course, the Minister will shamefully defend the denials by saying the process does not ensure these identified things, even though...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Mr. Speaker, I’m reminded of the old adage that the definition of insanity is you keep doing something over and over and expect different results. Mr. Speaker, the issue here really is one of consideration. I didn’t say was that the final outcome of the report, is that the driving force of the report. I’d just like to know if it’s a real consideration, Mr. Speaker. So, in essence, the how would we achieve efficiencies if these types of measures weren’t considered. If it was rolled into the territorial government, we all know that it wouldn’t require a general rate application process or a PUB...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to pick up from where Member Groenewegen had taken issue today with some of the Power Corporation’s rate review. One of the issues of interest of mine is, is the NWT Power Corporation going to be considered -- in its restructuring of rates, that is -- potentially a new department for the Northwest Territories government. I have spoken on that issue a couple of times and said I think, in the long run, that will give us better accountability, perhaps it will even create efficiencies. My question is directly to the Premier, who is the Minister...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister is referring to the Medical Travel Policy as the one-fit solution to every problem, Mr. Speaker. In this particular case, their loved one who had to be their escort was denied. They had trouble getting down for the pre-op surgery in advance of the actual surgery. They had troubles being booted out of the hospital in Edmonton and being told that if they didn’t get back on a certain date, even though the hospital in Edmonton had said they had to stay for a follow-up, they were told that they were going to be cut off. Now, again, I don’t sort of saddle the Minister with...

Thank you. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about the issue of organ transplant policy or, I should say, the lack thereof, and the difficulties some people have had following through in the process. That is pre-op care and certainly the medical travel process, as well as the follow-up from the post process, whether it’s about getting medication signed off, whether it’s getting the proper travel, about getting them back on time including loved ones. So, Mr. Speaker, I don’t necessarily blame the Minister in any way specific to this problem, but the Minister is well aware of this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to use my Member’s statement to talk about a frustrating experience that a number of Members in this House share. It’s about a bureaucratic approach that continues to drag success down when people are trying to do the right thing.

The issue I would like to discuss in this House is about organ donation in the Northwest Territories. Now, I know that we have a small population and that Stanton cannot provide the highly specialized transplant services that many people do need in the world. But, like most organ harvesting and transplant operations that do have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we can’t change the rates unless we do something different. Okay. Now, whether that means we change the rates to increase or change the rates to decrease, the reality is we have to do something different to change the rates. So, Mr. Speaker, if this analysis of this power rate review does not fully contemplate the option of moving the Power Corp into its position in line with the rest of the departments of the territorial government -- in other words, make it a full territorial department -- would the Minister commit that this is a consideration and costing...

I appreciate the answer from the Premier, but the point is you don’t ask the board if they want to dissolve themselves. That would be a political decision by the review team looking at rate review, and one of the analyses out of this process could be when they do rate review, we could probably provide more efficiencies and accountability in the rate review process if one of the recommendations was to roll it into a territorial department per se. Is that one of the issues being contemplated at the political level by someone in charge of the legislation such as the Premier and the Cabinet? Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the spirit and the intent of what the Minister is saying, but, Mr. Speaker, the issue really came down to things like the doctor said that this particular person needed an escort. Medical travel denied it. It took the Minister’s intervention to say, wait a minute, this is wrong. Down in Edmonton, the hospital said this person had to stay due to a follow-up because of the tearing of tissue if they moved too much. Medical travel denied that too. That is why I am asking for a clear policy that lays out when even doctors say something is necessary, they follow...