Mr. McLeod, the time for your Member's statement has ended.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mr. McLeod, you may continue.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as an MLA, it is not unusual for me to get calls at all hours of the night. Constituents call me for a variety of reasons, including medical emergencies.

Mr. Speaker, last night at around midnight I received a call from a father who was very concerned for the well-being of his child. This child had suffered a head injury and massive bleeding and unconsciousness had occurred. I was called because they needed medical help for the child and the request for a medevac was being denied.

Mr. Speaker, in the North Slave riding one of my communities does not have a nurse. It does not have health facilities or life-saving equipment. The local lay dispenser [SI1]is the sole medical support for that community. Mr. Speaker, when medical emergencies happen families are in danger because there is no nurse available to do an assessment. Although there is token support, this is often not enough. The only alternative is sometimes a medical charter into Yellowknife for something like sutures. This lack of medical support is dangerous and it is often costly because of the number of charters needed.

Mr. Speaker, communities throughout the North have varying levels of medical support. The support ranges from next to nothing in communities like Wekweti to having a nurse, a clerk, a home care worker and a health centre in Tsiigehtchic, which is roughly the same size as Wekweti.

Mr. Speaker, in early August the Minister of Health and Social Services, various board officials of the Dogrib Community Services Board and myself visited the North Slave communities of Gameti and Wekweti. Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that was raised at public meetings was that there is a need for a standard level of medical services across the Territories. Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, government practices are inconsistent. There is a gap between policy and practice, whether it would be how we award contracts, how we deal with government boards or how we provide medical services.

In this case health programs and services are ultimately the responsibility of the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services and the territorial government. At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister of Health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Ootes, your time for Member's statement is over. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his Member's statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude, Mr. Ootes.

Certainly, Mr. Ootes, the condolences of the House do go to the passing of many great Northerners. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the MLA for Nahendeh I have six communities in my constituency. Today I would like to say a few words about one of the communities, Nahanni Butte.

Mr. Speaker, those of you that travel throughout the North know that Nahanni Butte is a small community located along the South Nahanni River close to the confluence with the Liard River. It is the gateway to the Nahanni National Park if you go by boat, and this is a small community that is run by the chief and council. They do not have a municipal council and they run the business of running their community, as well as trying to do some business seeking ways of trying to get involved in the gas exploration that is at their doorstep.

Last July 31st there was an election, and I just wanted to congratulate again Chief Leon Konisenta who was re-elected and returns for another two-year term as the chief of the community of Nahanni Butte. I would also like to congratulate members of his council, Sam Nikotla, Jane Konisenta, Lena Marsellei, Jim Tonka, Steve Vital. I just wanted to congratulate them all. In a small community like that they are very busy, such as everybody else in the North, trying to make life better for their people.

I am pleased to extend congratulations to all the elected officials and to those individuals who ran for council positions. I am certain that the chief will enjoy the support of the experienced council and staff. I would like to say thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

-- Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Congratulations to the elected people in your constituency. Item 3, Members' statements. Are there any further Members' statements? The chair now recognizes the honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Point of Privilege

Mrs. Groenewegen, the Chair has given this some thought and there is no point of privilege there. Your rights as a Member were not at all infringed upon in any which way, and nor was it even a point of order. It was an error that you made. Perhaps a correction in a Member's statement would have been sufficient, so it was not a proper use of a point of privilege. Therefore, you have no point of privilege. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Mr. Delorey on October 16, 2002, regarding the Business Incentive Policy revisions.

In response to the revision deadline question: the proposed revisions to the Business Incentive Policy, along with a general information backgrounder, were released at a press conference on August 22, 2002. Opportunities were given to highlight changes, suggest amendments and respond to questions. This process was open until September 20, 2002.

In response to the socio-economic benefits question: for the fiscal year 2000-2001, $150 million of the $206 million paid to businesses were in fact paid to northern businesses. Our business community is seeing record growth in every sector:

• • retail sales were up by $51 million last year;
• • wholesale trade was up 20 percent;
• • restaurant sales were up 27 percent; and
• • manufacturing shipments increased by 25 percent.

Over the past year employment income in these industries has been growing at more than $500,000 per month. As the Northwest Territories economy grows, there is a lesser dependency on government spending. Therefore, it is timely that the policy be revised to meet our current economic objectives.

In response to the manufacturing sector involvement question: on September 20, 2001, a panel was appointed to establish a stand-alone manufacturing program that addresses market research and development consistent with "Common Ground" recommendation 41.

Recommendation 41 states that: "Government should work with industry to develop a manufacturing strategy that addresses marketing, research and development for the sector. The sector should encompass a broad range of value-added activity and include an export development component."

The panel has been working on recommendations for the development of a program to assist northern producers of goods with inherent difficulties of operating in the North.

The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development expects to receive the recommendations within the next month and will work on finalizing a stand-alone northern manufacturing policy on a parallel basis with the Business Incentive Policy. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.