Mr. Speaker, he’s got to calm down. All that is saying is that we know, we’ve been talking about this 2007 Supplementary Health Policy for the last three years, and that’s been delayed. The implementation of it has been delayed and delayed and delayed. Had we not done anything, it was set to come into effect on November 1st . The important point here is that we

are moving forward. We are accepting the report. We want to work together and we will share the information. We have to work together on how to bring this third-party insurance and pharmaceuticals strategy and all of the recommendations, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I spoke about the important work that Tu Nedhe schools are doing to promote and preserve aboriginal culture in their communities. I’d like to follow up my statement with questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday the Minister tabled the NWT Aboriginal Languages Plan. It’s good to see the government recognizing the importance of preserving aboriginal language. However, there was little mention about the connection between language and culture. I’d like to ask if the Minister acknowledges that there is a strong connection between language and culture. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, that is part of the process. The recommendations that were brought forward, there are over 70 recommendations, and some of the recommendations would reflect on what the Member is referring to, the culture preservation and also the language in the schools as well. There’s heavy emphasis from the elders, from the traditional leaders that we need to have that in the schools. So I’m glad the Member is raising that issue, because that is important. It’s important for this government to proceed with that. Mr. Speaker, that is part of the plan. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to developing a strategic plan for the preservation of traditional aboriginal culture activities? Thank you.

Yes, this will be part of the plan as we move forward to start implementing the 73 recommendations that were brought forward. We will have a plan in place with the schools. We need to work with the education councils, as well, and with the leaders. But, most definitely, we will have a plan in place to deal with those matters. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to hear that the Minister is willing to consider this. Many schools are struggling with the delivery of their culture programming today. Will the Minister commit to increasing funding to those schools that are being proactive in the delivery of aboriginal cultural programming starting the next school year?

Mr. Speaker, I think we have been proactive in the past. We had a ministerial directive to have that funding that’s been distributed to education councils directly spent on the language and culture preservation. This will be an area that we need to highlight as part of the business planning cycle for next year and the following years. It is a priority for us and definitely this will be part of the discussion as we move forward.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the work being done by the Lutselk'e Dene School and the Deninu Kue School in Fort Resolution, but more can be done. Both schools agree that they can do more. Will the Minister assist the Lutselk'e Dene School and the Deninu Kue by allocating an additional $10,000 to each school to help the culture programming immediately? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I must commend the two schools for promoting even more of a culturally relevant program, on-the-land program, and the activities that are happening. Definitely, that’s a discussion that we need to have and I will definitely include the Member, and also the Members as we move forward on the importance of identifying key resources of investment that we need to identify for next year’s business planning cycle. Mr. Speaker, definitely, we will keep the Members informed on that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m a little bit conflicted and confused by some of the dialogue that’s taken place in the House here today. I’m sure anybody listening in the public must be wondering, too, and kind of scratching their head. Here we’re heralding this big victory that we got for rescinding the 2007 policy. Mr. Speaker, people should make no mistake: this doesn’t mean that we’ve entered from having the 2007 Supplementary Health Policy, and now because we’re rescinding it we’ve entered into some kind of utopia, you know, some kind of Shangri-La on supplementary health care services. Absolutely not. Mr. Speaker, the real facts of the matter are that the supplementary health system is broken. It’s unfair and it’s inequitable, and we, as legislators, have got to do something to address that. There are people with no coverage who need coverage. There are people who are getting coverage who maybe don’t need coverage.

Before people run out and start ripping up their third-party health insurance cards, we should just put this in context. This is not a huge victory. This is a lot of work ahead of us to make sure that we get something in place that is right, and I’m glad that we have the time to do that, because, Mr. Speaker, I do believe that there was one thing in that new policy which was the red herring out there that caused everybody concern, and let’s call it what it was. It was the income testing. Nobody wanted income testing. Maybe there won’t be income testing, because there hasn’t been enough research gone on to see if income testing is the way to go, but if we think that we’re going to continue to pay seniors on supplementary health benefits this formulary and this level and pay people on NIHB this level, think again. It’s not going to happen. There’s going to be parity. There’s going to be…

Do you have a question, Mrs. Groenewegen?

Anyway, my question for the Minister is: Just because we do not have the 2007 policy, the Minister will concur that it is not going to be status quo going forward. Correct?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely correct. I couldn’t say it any better and next week I am going to come to the table and say how we are going to try to get it down, as much as possible, of what needs to be done.

The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of the great news of the rescinding of the 2007 policy, I am hesitant to ask questions, because I’m afraid that the government will take back the good news and change it or mess it up in one form or another.

In listening to the questions that my colleagues have been posing to the Minister of Health and quite namely one of the questions highlighted by MLA Bisaro, which is, okay, what’s guiding the future of the Supplementary Health Benefits program? It causes me to wonder where are the working poor in this equation and what can they have to look forward to. Can the Minister provide some guidance to this House where the working poor will fit in this equation going forward for supplementary health benefits, recognizing that all groups like the public, the seniors and whatnot all spoke in favour of immediate support to them? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s status quo for the moment because the policy to bring them in has not been implemented. I will be coming back next week, I said, to work on how we move forward on those recommendations of the Joint Working Group, which included expansion of coverage to the working poor. Thank you.

I appreciate the answer, because that was very clear -- status quo, which means if you’re in the working-poor bracket, that means nothing. At least it’s clear and no one’s fooled by that. So the reality is, what’s holding back from immediate coverage to the working poor if that will be the long-term principles and guidelines? What’s stopping this government from making that immediate decision? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the Joint Working Group, which was made up of six Members, came up with a number of recommendations and we are going to try and work through those and I am coming back with an implementation schedule/work plan on how to do them. It’s our wish to get it done within the life of this Assembly. Thank you.