The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to acknowledge a young constituent and role model: 21-year-old Tsatsiye Catholique of Lutselk'e. On June 3rd , Tsatsiye will

be graduating from a new and exciting program called Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, anytime our young residents graduate from university, it’s a special occasion. Coming from a small community such as Lutselk'e it’s extra special. It shows the dedication and commitment made by this young man and the support of his family, friends and the whole community.

Please join me in congratulating Tsatsiye Catholique and his family as he graduates from Trent University with a degree in Indigenous Environmental Studies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 7, oral questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve got questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It gets back to my Member’s statement talking about the proposed changes to supplementary health benefits.

Obviously everybody’s been giving this a lot of thought. We have to come up with a new solution. Mr. Speaker, if I could, I would just like to share a solution. We’re about 16 months away from the next territorial election in October of 2011. I’d like to ask the Minister if the government has given any consideration to taking this policy and the proposed direction that they want to take supplementary health benefits in, take it the electorate in the fall of 2011. It’s only 16 months from now, and in the meantime you can continue to do the research that should ultimately get done so that we can make the right decision. Will the Minister commit to taking this to the public, where it rightfully belongs, in the fall of 2011? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since the implementation plan on this policy, since it was released in the fall of 2008, it’s had about two and a half years of review. We believe, as a Cabinet, that this is a good policy change. It will expand the program’s access to a lot of people who, as the Member said, are the most vulnerable. It will bring in 2,000-plus people who do not have a basic supplementary health care benefit such as dental and vision care. And the plan, we will be reviewing with the committee, as we had promised, but the plan as it stands now is to implement the changes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think, as I mentioned during my Member’s statement, it’s a foolish direction that the government is embarking upon. If you have a rally of 200 people in front of the Legislative Assembly, that’s got to send a message to the Minister and to the government that the direction that they’re taking is wrong and they should revisit that direction. If the government, like the Minister said, actually cared about those people that are outside of this protection right now and today, this government’s been in office for over three years, Mr. Speaker.

What have they done about it? Why haven’t you found the money to address that gap? Why do you have to take money from one portion of the populous to pay for another, Mr. Speaker? Why is that the only direction that this government is embarking upon? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is the loudest and the greatest advocate for fiscal responsibility. The Member knows that we don’t have all the money we need to do all the things that our people ask for. The Member mentioned in his statement that $2.6 million is small chump. I don’t know. As the Minister responsible for the biggest budget department, the Department of Health and Social Services, that sees growth between 6 to 8 percent, $2.6 million is not a small amount of money. That would allow me to set up a specialists’ shop at Stanton; that would pay for a number of nurses; it would pay for a lot of insured services.

Mr. Speaker, I think what we need to remember is that supplementary health benefits is a non-insured service. It’s a program where in the rest of Canada people pay out of their own pockets, and usually by a third party or employer insurance. What the government is trying to do is establish the best program possible which would allow people without insurance, employer insurance, to have a very nice insurance package.

In order to expand the service, we’re determining it by determining the need by one’s ability to pay, because we believe that is the most fair and equitable way to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that is all fine and good, but the bottom line is this Northwest Territories, the land that we govern, is not the rest of Canada, Mr. Speaker. It is the Northwest Territories. We have unique needs. The cost of living here in the Northwest Territories, people cannot afford to live here. We are losing people because they can’t afford to live here and the government again is embarking on a decision to even increase costs more to our residents. It is the wrong decision, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, I want to go back to an earlier question. I will ask the Minister again, will the Minister delay the implementation date of this until the 17th Legislative Assembly is duly elected and

will she go out and knock on door to door in her riding, campaigning for this policy, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we as leaders are put in this place to make decisions on behalf of people and not study things to death and delay and debate. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has stated, the cost of living is a big issue in the Northwest Territories, but we also know that the NWT and especially Yellowknife, for many years, we have people on a very high income. We have to recognize that fact. The thing that the Members

have to know and the values that the Member speaks about, we need to talk about low income working families who are struggling every day to pay for basic dental care and basic vision care. They do not have an option of getting employer’s insurance because their work doesn’t cover it, government doesn’t cover it and they are having to decide whether they are willing to pay for pairs of glasses or not. We are making this program. We are expanding it. We are making it accessible to 100 percent of non-aboriginal people. We are making it in a way that 80 percent of our population will have as good or better policy than anybody with a government job. I had to tell you, Mr. Speaker, if I went to Ontario right now and said that we are going to offer non-insured health benefits to everybody there that is as good as a government package, I believe that that would be a winner and it should be a winner here too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I think that the Minister is missing my point. I think the ultimate test is for the Minister to delay the implementation of this until the next government is elected -- and that is only 16 months away -- and let her go door to door in this city and campaign on this policy and let’s see if she gets re-elected, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think she will get re-elected. I would like to ask her if she thinks she’d get re-elected if she went door to door in her riding with this policy. Thank you.

It is not a question; it is more of asking for the Minister for her advice. I don’t think it is an appropriate question. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement with regard to the school playground in Fort Liard. Once again, I appreciate that the Minister had an opportunity to go to Fort Liard and visit the school and look at the playground. I would just like to ask just in general, what is the department’s policy on providing playgrounds for our schools, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The trip to the community of Fort Liard was my first visit to the community. It was a great visit just to see the students and also the leadership of the community and seeing the playground itself where the students usually play. We did talk about

this particular case when we came back to Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker. This particular playground has been identified as part of the capital planning. We may have to expedite the process. It is in the works. It is just the playground is still there, but my understanding is PWS has gone through the community last week. The ground is still frozen. They couldn’t take out the infrastructure at this time, but we are working towards establishing a playground facility. I do commend the community for fundraising of $26,000. By all means, any contribution from the community does expedite the process. This is an area that we need to work with. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate that the Minister did hear the concerns of the community, as it was not so much a school as a community concern as well. I am pleased to see some commitment from the Minister to provide funding in the capital plan. But at the same time, as he had indicated, the time to build it is this year. Is there any way to provide some funding to assist the community this year? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it has been identified for this year but it is at the request of the DEA from the community that we need to work with the board to make this a priority for the community and for our department. As you know, there are other major capitals that are before us, the schools that we need to work with. But at the same time, this is an area that I would like to focus on as well, Fort Liard. I did make a commitment to the leadership that I would like to go back there at some point in time in the summer if it all works out.

Mr. Speaker, this particular playground that the Member has alluded to is an area that my department is working diligently with the DEA and the superintendent at that level. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that we will be working in the capital plan towards the playground equipment in Fort Liard in this coming summer and the fall time. I hope to see the capital funds there. However, the community group is looking at building it in components. They have $26,000 this year. They are looking for at least some matching funds from our government who has to be responsible for the school there, Mr. Speaker. Is there a way that the department and the Minister can find some funds this fiscal year or else this summer to help start the playground reconstruction process? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the decision comes down from the DEA, district education council. The community level will be the authority to make those kinds of decisions as a priority to our department. That is why I stated that we will work with the DEA and the DEC and also the community leadership along with Mr.

Menicoche on putting this forward. It could be part of our capital planning process either this fall or next fall, but it is not identified since last year for this particular year. Mr. Speaker, this is an area that we need to work with as we move forward. Mahsi.

Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to reiterate to the Minister that this is not exactly a new issue. It is about four years old that the playground got condemned. The urgency is to get something started this year, Mr. Speaker, and also some funding in the next fiscal year. Will the Minister commit to tell the DEA, to his staff, that this is a priority item and must be addressed as soon as possible? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am in no position to dictate to the DEA, but they should be telling me that they want more. That is an area where we need to cooperate. We need to work together. We need to build a strong relationship that we have right now. This has been identified as a priority for the community. We recognize that, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to the Member that we will do what we can to push this further, expedite the process during our capital planning process. Mahsi.