Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It has to do with the supplementary health benefits. I want to ask in terms of this policy going forward. I want to ask the Minister about her decision along with her Cabinet in terms of her sense of this policy. Is this a good, effective policy? My concern is for the 2,200-some-odd people who are not receiving health coverage. Certainly there has to be a give and take in terms of how we make sure that this covers for these 2,200 families or people who are not receiving. Is this policy the most effective or the best that we could do in light of our fiscal restraints in the Northwest Territories?
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the basis of review of analysis we have done, we believe this is a very good program and provides fair and equitable coverage to most people and those 2,000 people that the Member mentioned. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, just a primary focus of my question is on the coverage of these 2,200 people who are not receiving it today as we talk right now in terms of the coverage that other members of the Northwest Territories do enjoy. Now I want to focus on the concerns I am hearing around the table in the House here and in Yellowknife here, that there is a huge number of local people that are saying that a number of issues that they are telling us to not go ahead with it or scrap it or delay it or consider it again. I want to ask the Minister in terms of this policy here in terms of the people that we are hearing who are both vocal in terms of saying that it is discriminatory or it is not fair or we are going to be chasing them out. I want to ask the Minister, are those numbers high numbers in terms of what we are hearing in terms of the arrangement now or the policy that is being placed in terms of this supplementary health?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. I think what we agree on, and even the Members in this House and what we are hearing from outside, is that everybody says that we should find a way to include those people who are not included right now. I think the issue is about how we do that. The suggestions that have come forward in our public meetings are that we should do it by universality. Just make that part of the Canada, our NWT health care or bring them in by increasing taxes or progressive taxation or do it by reducing other government programs, but I think there is an agreement that we need to bring these people in. We have done the analysis of that and our position is that this is not an insured health service. This is supplementary health services. In most other parts of the country -- and there was an article done by Slave River Journal that did a cross country comparison -- by any comparison except for Nunavut, this program that we are proposing is more generous and it has wider coverage than any other available. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister answer me in terms of answering the question here in terms of this supplementary health benefit? It is not like the one that they have given to the aboriginal people or the Metis. That is the question that we are faced with. Can she then explain to me and residents in my riding, some of us in the Sahtu receive medical services under the federal government and some of the Metis constituents receive services under the GNWT and now we are talking about this issue here where we are talking about a co-payment plan for non-aboriginal people. I want to ask the Minister in terms of being clear to me in explaining how this is done in Canada and the Northwest Territories so we don’t get too far into the fine lines of who is covering who and who is getting what in terms of health care in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I think those are the similar questions that I got when I did the Minister’s tour with Minister Lafferty through Monfwi. In Wekweeti and Whati we had some questions and we were able to clarify having a discussion.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for everybody out there to know that when we are talking about supplementary health benefits, we are not talking about what people know to be a health care coverage. Everybody in the Territories and Canada, you go and see a doctor or nurse, get a surgery, have a baby, have a hip replacement, all those are health care services that everybody is entitled to and none of that is changing, whether you are aboriginal, non-aboriginal, you live in Yellowknife or anywhere in Canada. What we are talking about is extended health services which is not part of Canada Health Act which is covered in provinces and territories in its own way by the policies and direction of each government. For the aboriginal people in Canada, there is a federal program, NIHB. We have Metis Health Benefits Program in the Territories. There are lots of people in the Territories who get this coverage through their employer’s insurance. What we are trying to do is to cover those who are not entitled to any of those programs to access this. This is for drugs, for glasses, and dental. Those are the extra health care benefits that people need to find a way to access. This is our suggestion for doing that for those who can’t have access elsewhere. Thank you.
Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister explain to me what it would mean if this Legislative Assembly delayed the implementation of the new policy that she’s bringing forward? What would it mean to us, what would it mean to the people in the Northwest Territories?
As has been said many times, this program has been reviewed since 2003 because people feel there are people who are excluded from this program and there are no means for them to appeal or to have us look at the list. Unless you are under Income Support, you do not get support for dental or vision care. So I believe that it is incumbent on the government to come up with a program that gives access to 100 percent of the people, but ask those who could afford to make a co-payment to contribute a little, contribute part of that, Mr. Speaker. This will be like any other, it’s like giving everybody an employer health insurance program and I believe this is essential for the sustainability and viability of our health care system going forward. Thank you.
