Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know I’ve been here for a while, but I didn’t think I was an MLA for Yellowknife now.

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Mr. Speaker, my Member’s statement before I spoke to the fact that I believe that we failed this individual by not providing them with the quality of life that they so rightfully deserved. I think we have an opportunity now to maybe right some wrongs. I’d like to direct my line of questioning to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to ask the Minister, whose decision is it as to who is eligible for motorized wheelchairs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all I’d just like to thank the Member, who is also the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, for asking me the very first question as Minister of this government.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the decisions about who gets access to health equipment, it’s provided by the health authorities that govern the health programs in our regions, along with the advice from the medical advisor.

Specific to the constituent that the Member mentioned earlier, I just want to express and send our condolences to the families. It was really hard to hear from the Member this morning that this constituent had passed away on the weekend.

So I think that’s the answer, in terms of how one could get the equipment. This lady did receive approval for equipment in 2003 and 2004. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

I’d like to ask the Minister, what’s the criteria that individuals have to meet to receive a wheelchair? Would it be a recommendation from a rehabilitation centre in Edmonton that they may have just come from? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the information that I have is that Mr. McLeod’s constituent was approved for a wheelchair -- first a manual one and later on an electric one -- and it was with the support of the medical advisor, the doctor, as well as the health authority. There was a lot of support for this constituent to have that wheelchair equipment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think if we dig a little further, we’re going to find that this motorized

wheelchair was removed from this individual. But I would like to ask the Minister if Glenrose Rehabilitation Centre in Edmonton is an expert and they deal with a lot of NWT residents that do sometimes get confined to wheelchairs. I would like to ask the Minister if she would request Glenrose do a review of the wheelchair accessibility in Inuvik and recommendations that they might come up with to take care of some of these problems. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can advise the House that, in fact, the Member has asked for this request to have involvement of Glenrose and I’d be happy to make that commitment to do that. Specific to the Member’s constituent, however, Mr. Speaker, I could advise you that I think the reason why the electric wheelchair might have been taken away, or not taken away but it was out of service, is because of the incident that there was in a long-term health care facility where the electric wheelchair was seen to be dangerous to the facility and it was a policy that was made. But I am willing to look at that again. But that was the reason why it was recommended that a manual wheelchair be used, and there were some other health issues involved that might have contributed to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to quote from the Hansard, unedited Hansard of October 19th . I was questioning Premier

Roland about the extent of our involvement and commitment to the Deh Cho Bridge. I asked about the point of no return, and at that time the Premier responded that “I am not prepared to sign a blank cheque.” If the Premier was not prepared on the 19th to sign a blank

cheque and understanding that our level of financial commitment has now significantly changed with the signing of this concession agreement, if the conditions are met and this government wants to pull back, which is the point I was trying to get at when I was asking the questions when I talk about the point of no return, will the Premier agree that having signed the concession agreement now, the extent of our liability is no longer in our hands? It’s in fact in the hands of the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, their ability to comply with the conditions of the signed agreement? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would state the same thing I stated when the question was asked in the form it was asked, that there are some key, as an out quote from unedited Hansard of October 19th , “There are some key issues that are still left

out there and one of those that was in the paper for public interest was that navigable waters permit. So that’s one of

those things, and a final financing deal that comes down.” So there’s a number of factors. Right now we’re liable for the loan guarantee that’s in place until these requirements are met. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the conditions are met and if, for some reason, through political wishes or direction of this 16th Assembly, we don’t

proceed, we are considerably more at risk of an unquantified, at this time, liability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. If all conditions are met, then the Government of the Northwest Territories' liability, if we decided for reasons of our own as the 16th Assembly

to pull back from that project, the liability can grow significantly if the liabilities or the conditions have been met by the other parties. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was the case exactly on the day that I asked these questions, yet no reference was made to the concession agreement having been signed, putting this government at that potential significant, greater liability should the conditions be met.

In response, in another question, the Premier states, “it’s not too late. The 16th Assembly and its mandate has not signed a deal on proceeding forward...” I’d like to ask the Premier how he could reconcile that to the fact that a concession agreement had been signed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although the Member doesn’t want to go back to the history, the question does go back to the history. A decision was made by a previous government. We’re in a place where there are a number of factors that have to be met for us to honour that agreement. There is no contractual signing for steel or construction. That will be done through the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation once they have all their pieces lined up. That’s where we are right now with the project. Thank you.