Robert Hawkins

I would kind of like to hear the answer whether the department either disputes the findings of the Conference Board of Canada or accepts them. If they dispute them, I think Northerners need to know what areas they are disputing and they also need to know the truth of the matter.

Does the department accept the fact that it has received a D minus, which is barely a pass? Thank you.

My final question is I’m curious as to what the Minister’s briefing note will read as to engagement on a pan-territorial strategy as to improve the D minus across the three territories as we work towards a partnership for improving Aboriginal health and the health of all Northerners across the NWT and our two sister territories.

The only one that the Minister left off the table was devolution to help people’s health.

Can the Minister explain what areas under his responsibility, under health care indicators, why there is such a discrepancy between the report and the D minus received, rather than blaming other departments and referencing other proposals by departments? We’re talking about health care indicators and health.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like my good colleague Mr. Ramsay, am happy to be back to work as well. I’m losing time on the clock, so I’d better get going.

The overreaching goal of the Conference Board of Canada is to benchmark the quality of life in Canada relative to its 15 peer countries. Most people agree that without good health care, quality of life is severely compromised. On February 12th of this year, the Conference Board of Canada published results on the status of Canadians and their health with their 15 peer countries.

The report is known as How Canada Performs and zeroes in on key...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to say, for the record, I notice Highway No. 9 is missing, the one that runs off the access road straight into Yellowknife Centre, and I think it’s time we start to put that on the books.

In all seriousness, Mr. Chairman, I’m just wondering, not to get too far ahead of the detail, but is the additional money requested for the Detah road over and above the original contract? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a general comment and I guess I’d call it a question. What is the change in costs? We’ve switched security over to an internal mechanism as opposed to a contract fee. What was the previous cost and what is the estimated cost now?

The Minister has just said they are not challenging the results, so let’s get it on the record.

Does the Minister accept that the Government of the Northwest Territories Health Care Program has received a fair mark at a D minus? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For 61 years the Conference Board of Canada has been a think tank, providing research advice on economic trends and organizational performances on public issues.

Knowing what the Conference Board of Canada has given the Northwest Territories government, what is the Department of Health going to do with this D minus? Are they going to accept it or are they going to dispute the D minus given to this government? If they choose to dispute it, which specific areas are they disputing? Thank you.

The Minister cites the MDS, that’s Mineral Development Strategy, and the EOS, the Economic Opportunities Strategy, as the solution for this. I’d like to actually hear what the Department of Health is doing when it comes to improving the outcomes of life expectancy, premature mortality, infant mortality and mortality due to cancer specific to health.

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

---Carried