Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In June I asked the Minister of Health and Social Services a number of questions on the provision of dental surgery services in the Northwest Territories. At that time the Minister indicated that the department was investigating the possibility of making services available.

Since then it has come to my attention that senior officials with the Department of Health and Social Services had discussed the issue with Health Canada, who has agreed to increase the coverage under NIHB for the facility teams associated with provision of First Nations and Inuit children’s dental treatment under general anaesthetic at hospitals in the NWT. The increase provided by Health Canada does not cover the complete cost of the services, but it does offset the cost that the GNWT would have to cover to allow these services to be provided in territorial hospitals. Based on these changes, the Department of Health and Social Services has re-evaluated their stance on dental surgeries for children, and dental surgeries are currently being booked in both the Hay River and Inuvik hospitals. This is excellent. This is the right thing to do, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the Minister and the department officials who made this happen.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister to take the next step and make the same services available in Yellowknife through Stanton Territorial Health Authority. Yellowknife has the largest population in the NWT and has a large number of children who are suffering and require dental surgery. The Yellowknife dentists are willing to provide the services that require access to an operating room extension to perform these treatments.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions on this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy.

Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to recognize just a few of the amazing artists of the Weledeh riding, knowing that this exercise simply reflects the incredibly talented people that can be found throughout the Northwest Territories in every one of our ridings. In doing so, I hope to underscore the important role and mentorship these people have in strengthening our community and northern spirit, our social relationships and our economy.

I’d like to start with mentioning visual artists in Dettah/N’dilo: Henry Beaulieu, Peter Mitchell, Alex Betsina. Craftspeople and artisans in Dettah: Paul Mackenzie, Roy Sangris and Lawrence Sangris. Traditional sewing, beadwork and clothing elders: Mary Louise Drygeese, Mary Louise Sangris, Judith Charlo and in N’dilo Mary Jane Francois and Helen Mackenzie. Younger folks in that area are Violet Martin, Alice Wifladt-Sangris and Priscilla Sangris.

Alex Czarnecki, film director and producer, is to about premiere his insightful documentary Water is Life at NACC on October 6. France Benoit has an internationally acclaimed film, Alicia and the Mystery Box, and Reflections on the McKenzie Gas Project will premiere in January. Internationally acclaimed cinematographer Terry Wolffe has just returned from Hollywood where he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the series Ice Road Truckers.

Terry Pamplin is a well known artist who paints in vivid colours, doing portraits and scenic and imaginative works. Sheila Hodgkinson is well known for her vivid portrayal of Old Town heritage and landscapes around Yellowknife. Diane Mercredi, Rosalind Mercredi and many others are talented visual artists in Weledeh. Diane Boudreau, exceptional natural landscape sculptor and painter, collects beverage containers from Weledeh residents so she can fund her work helping the mentally challenged find and express their artistic talents.

Matthew Grogono is well known for his glass etchings and reuse of old liquor bottles to produce prized gifts. Ben Nind is executive director of the Northern Arts and Cultural Center and a nationally recognized actor on stage. Pat Braden is an extraordinary musician who’s now developing a performing arts reputation. Maureen Crotty, flautist, just performed with other classical musicians at NACC last week.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

The extra time reflects the many artists we have: Tracy Riley, Azure Degrow and Stephen Kakfwi are a few of the well known Weledeh musicians. Our talented photographers include Tessa Macintosh, Fran Hurcomb, Alex Beaudin and Ozgur Culha, to name a few. Christine Bourqe is known for her unique and original fur garment designs. We have Inuit sculptors, potters, jewellry makers, graphic artists, writers such as Jamie Bastedo, who has written many books of various sorts.

Mr. Speaker, our amazing artist community contributes to quality of life and plays a key role in attracting and retaining residents. We do not speak enough about the benefits we have in the North. One is most certainly our arts community. We must continue to increase our investment in our artists. Colleagues, I ask you to please join me in recognizing the talented artists of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Applause.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is in regard to the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik. This facility was built in 1978 and is now 30 years old. It is a level 3 facility, which provides 24-hour care for elders in Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea and surrounding communities. This facility has provided a very top level of care for our seniors, our elders, a lot of whom have passed on. It is that sense of love and caring that only the Joe Greenland could provide. Over the 30 years a lot of people have worked in this facility, a lot of elders have lived out their days in this facility, but we also have to realize that this facility is 30 years old.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of people in the community of Aklavik went away to take training, then came back to the community and were able to acquire full time employment in regard to providing care in this facility. These people have now retired after working there for some 30 years. Again, we cannot lose sight of a high and growing population of elders in the Northwest Territories and what happens to our elders, especially in our smaller communities, and how we can retain that service and provide 24-hour care to our communities.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of elders and family members want their loved ones to live out their days in our communities, close to family and friends, and not have them go away to regional facilities in Inuvik or to the hospital for long term care or here in the Yellowknife in the dementia centre and other facilities that are being built in the larger centres.

In regard to this facility, it has survived three floods, yet, Mr. Speaker, very little by way of facility upkeep and improvements have been made besides replacing a roof and dealing with the foundation.

Mr. Speaker, as the government we have a responsibility to take care of our aging population, which makes up a large percentage of our population in the Northwest Territories. We cannot lose sight of the traditional values of aboriginal people: being a family unit, taking care of the elders and allowing them to pass on with loving care in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, we can see through the budget process the number of dollars being

expended in facilities, especially in the larger centres, and I’m talking about the dementia centre and health care facilities like the Northern Lights Special Care Home in Fort Smith. There is very little by way of government direction for elders in the Northwest Territories. There were facilities built in Aklavik, Deline, and also in Fort Resolution and Behchoko so that people can be taken care of in the regions. They can stay close to home and family members.

Mr. Speaker, I get the feeling we’re going away from that, so at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services what we are doing to retain facilities in our regions, in our communities so that we can take care of our elders as they age in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me pleasure to recognize my wife and my biggest supporter, Judy.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this time to recognize a friend of mine, Everett McQueen, and his two lovely daughters he has with him, Wynter and Montana. Welcome.

Mr. Speaker, I made a statement on artists. I’d like to recognize Wynter and Montana as extraordinary up and coming fiddlers. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize a constituent of mine, Mr. Everett McQueen, and his two daughters, Wynter and Montana. I can’t tell who is who because they’re twins, but it’s nice to see them here.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize Mr. Tom Beaulieu in the gallery.

Laughter.

Welcome to everybody in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today talked about dental surgery services in the NWT and the fact that the Department of Health has worked with the federal government and is now providing dental services through dentists in both Hay River and Inuvik.

My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Now that we’ve worked out this agreement with NIHB, will the department be working with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide similar services here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was very pleased that the officials were able to work out an agreement with the federal government and that surgeries have been booked. It started being delivered in Hay River as of Monday. I was hoping to be there for the opening, but I couldn’t make it.

I think what’s really important to note here is that the dispute we had with the federal government was that there are costs associated with dental service, and the federal government is only paying for these non-insured health benefits to our aboriginal population. Dental surgery is not an insured service. I think everybody should know that. GNWT does not pay for dental surgery; that is not part of our health care plan. It is a plan that the federal government provides to aboriginal people of the Territories. That’s one of the reasons.

The other thing is that Stanton Territorial Hospital is over capacity. They are not able to offer the days available in their surgery room to provide this service, whereas Hay River and Inuvik have surgery rooms and surgery staff who are being underused. I think that as a government we need to make sure that, where the service can be provided in regional centres, we encourage that as much as possible. We had a waiting list of about 350 kids in the South Slave area that we needed to address. So that is why we had to push that really hard to get it to happen.

I am willing to look at what’s possible in areas other than Hay River and Inuvik, but the focus right now is to get it done and get it running and reduce the waiting list in the South Slave area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That sounded an awful lot like a no. Yellowknife does have the largest aboriginal population in the Northwest Territories, the largest single population of aboriginals. So there are individuals who live in Yellowknife who would be able to get those advantages. I understand that there is a waiting list in Yellowknife as well and that there are young children who require dental surgery services in Yellowknife who will have to ship out to Edmonton or other locations if we can’t find a way to get it to happen here.

I understand that there are some issues at Stanton, but at the same time I also know that they shut

down the operating room for the summers for extended periods of time. So there’s obviously some time to do some surgeries in Stanton if the Minister were willing to work with local dentists.

I guess I’m asking the Minister to commit to working with the local dentists in Yellowknife to arrange to have them provide dental services in the operating room here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, the plan is that those who are eligible for non-insured health benefits and dental surgery, from and including Norman Wells and south, will be travelling to Hay River. Until we opened the clinic in Hay River, they had been travelling to Edmonton. Now they will be travelling to Hay River, and they will get their services there.

We need to work on how we best use our facilities. Hay River had a built-in dental surgeon who’s been doing it for 30 years. We had a waiting list there. We need to use that facility. There are no surgeries being done in that hospital, when we are paying for the staff and the facility.

Now, Stanton is an acute care facility. They have to do the work that we need to get done under the health care benefits for the entire population. It is a different kind of hospital, and I believe that if we can deliver services in centres other than Yellowknife, we need to do that, because we’re paying for this.

That still sounds like a no. I don’t quite understand why the Minister isn’t willing to work with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide these services in Yellowknife. I understand the importance of providing it to the other communities as well. I’m not suggesting we stop, but the lists are large, and there are dentists here who are qualified to do this work and are willing to do this work.

At the risk of repeating myself, I think I’ll ask a very similar question. Will the Minister work with the local dentists to find a way to provide oral dental surgeries in Yellowknife as well as the other communities?

Mr. Speaker, once again I want to state that dental surgery is not an insured service. Government does not provide that service. The federal government provides the services to our aboriginal population, and we are trying to accommodate that. Having said that, Yellowknife has a very vibrant and very reputable dentist and dental surgeon population. Anywhere else in Canada dental surgeries are provided by private clinics. There’s no reason why the private clinics in Yellowknife couldn’t look at opening that. If the dentists and dental professionals in Yellowknife want to talk to me and work with me — and I’d like to work with them — to see if that’s at all possible…. I believe Yellowknife, better than any community in the NWT, has the room for private

clinics and private business. All other people who need dental surgery will be covered by third party insurance, other than the government and other than NIHB.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.