Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak plainly and seek a straightforward conversation about the Minister of Health’s program to develop a new Supplementary Health Benefits Program.
We left this issue over 12 months ago, because basic research had not been done to provide a basis for the government’s decision and approach. MLAs and the public asked that initial research be done and then a meaningful consultation be started. We naively anticipated that research would take a few months, information would come out, and then MLAs and the public could have a back-and-forth interaction with the department, posing questions that would be researched and brought back for further input. What happened?
Over a year passed and suddenly the Minister is desperate to release some research and move to an immediate public consultation before any input from MLAs. This after many had begun to assume supp health had maybe fallen off the Order Paper.
When the Minister released the supp health research, with that she included a surprise announcement of two weeks of public meetings in late March and early April centred on Easter weekend when people will be travelling and focused on family activities rather than going to meetings. At best this reflects a sorrowful lack of understanding about public dialogue.
The Minister is launching these consultations when there is still a checklist of elementary research that needs to be done. I will speak to that in my oral questions briefly. My major point on consultation is that it can only be made meaningful through two-way dialogue. Our best resources for a full and complete review are the smart, experienced members of the public, our seniors and clients with specified medical conditions who are appealing for a meaningful role in this work.
Let’s not repeat yet again the mistakes of the past. Let’s have a meaningful public interaction properly conducted. This would include a presentation and initial response to materials this spring, followed by refined discussions based on new research and insights in the fall, with implementation perhaps April 1, 2011.
After the Deh Cho Bridge, no single issue has excited as much debate as the supplementary health benefits proposals. The Minister should recognize this, act on the valid questions raised, reach out to the resource of public knowledge, and commit to a meaningful period of public engagement.
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to express my grave concerns about the actions of the Health Minister with her decision to release information to the public in the context of public consultation about the changes to supplementary health benefits.
Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents say it looks like it’s already a done deal. I have reviewed the material on the Health and Social Services website, and I’ve had feedback from my constituents. If anyone has read the documents, you would know there seems to be many assumptions and leading information that relates to the direction of the supplementary health benefits and which way it will be going. Some of the pretty obvious statements are the department will implement an income test program; that the implementation will happen September 2010; that many Northerners will be able to access their supplementary health benefits from third-party providers. Mr. Speaker, not to mention the sad fact that Regular Members only had information on what would be happening just the day before this release started.
As we all know, the Minister will hold town meetings and talk to regional centres throughout the NWT in March and April with her new vision of the rollout of the program, which is coming in September. But, Mr. Speaker, is this consultation just for consultation sake? Is this a process just to shoehorn our seniors into a direction that the department has already made clear that they’re going in? Why do we need an implementation date as opposed to just a consultation framework process, and then let that process drive the implementation date? Does the Minister believe that the appearance of this consultation will drive true feedback or just simply apathy from its public?
I urge the Minister to be open to new ideas through this process. I also encourage the Minister not to hack away at the few benefits that we provide our northern seniors. I insist to the Minister to find a way to stop driving up the cost of living here in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I had one constituent tell me the other day, it’s starting to look like our Health Minister is taking a page out of the Alberta health model, the third way. Mr. Speaker, in closing I’m going to quote a line from Hamlet. It says something is rotten in Denmark. Well, Mr. Speaker, I certainly think something is wrong and certainly rotten with our supplementary health consultation process and it’s only just begun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
