This is page numbers 4781 - 4806 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was health.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

I just want to remind Members if there is anything before the court or a judicial process, that we try to avoid interfering in that process in this forum. But I will allow the Minister to answer the question, Ms. Lee, but remember that there are certain processes that are before judicial inquiries or reviews that is not privy to ourselves in this House to ask those types of questions. So, Ms. Lee, you can respond to the question.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Medical Profession Act, as any other professional body, it lays out a very clear process on how these things get conducted. It does not allow for Minister to intervene. I understand the overall responsibility I have as a Minister to make sure that there is a process in place. I do appreciate that the Member did let me know about that. I am not able to say anything in the House that would attribute anything to individuals out there. Having said that, I did let the Member know that I am concerned about what the Member has told me. I have told her that I will undertake to look into the process and give her a private briefing. I just feel that this is really inappropriate, other than talking about medical process and the process outlined, that we will be talking about an individual that we can be talking about. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Final question, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is ironic that probably Members of this Legislature are amongst the very few who can actually stand up and talk about this. We haven’t determined that there is anything before a judicial body or a court or anything. We have not determined that, but it is very interesting that if I go outside these doors and speak to the media about this concern about my constituent or this case, I then could become liable in the courts for something. This is the only place where I can stand up. I am probably the only person who can stand up on behalf of this constituent and raise this with some immunity, not to be reckless or careless about that immunity but to bring this to light. I am talking mostly about the process here today. I am trying to understand the process on behalf of my constituent who has been sitting there being dragged through this fight and I am concerned not only about her but the other people who have been affected. It is the tactic of predators who get into these positions where they can prey on people to isolate people. I would like to put it out there today in the Northwest Territories. If you have received treatment from somebody here in Yellowknife for a certain condition, and I think I have made enough clues about it, and you have felt isolated and alone and thought you could not come forward, I would certainly like to hear from them.

Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to ask the Minister what she can do to become involved to ensure the safety of the people who are receiving services and care in our medical service. If she can’t get involved, then we have a big problem here.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for the Member to know that I do understand the Member’s concern. We do want to make sure that we have a process in place where our residents who provide service have a concern about their practitioner, that there is a process in place. I am just not able to say anything that would give comfort to her that would in any way talk about an individual who is not before this Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I do commit to her that I will talk to her privately and give her the information that she needs, at least over a short period of time and then we could go from there. I understand her concern, Mr. Speaker. As far as I am aware, the Medical Profession Act has a process in place where a complaints officer could take a number of measures about a complaint against a physician, including putting a condition on their practice. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It has to do with the supplementary health benefits. I want to ask in terms of this policy going forward. I want to ask the Minister about her decision along with her Cabinet in terms of her sense of this policy. Is this a good, effective policy? My concern is for the 2,200-some-odd people who are not receiving health coverage. Certainly there has to be a give and take in terms of how we make sure that this covers for these 2,200 families or people who are not receiving. Is this policy the most effective or the best that we could do in light of our fiscal restraints in the Northwest Territories?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the basis of review of analysis we have done, we believe this is a very good program and provides fair and equitable coverage to most people and those 2,000 people that the Member mentioned. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, just a primary focus of my question is on the coverage of these 2,200 people who are not receiving it today as we talk right now in terms of the coverage that other members of the Northwest Territories do enjoy. Now I want to focus on the concerns I am hearing around the table in the House here and in

Yellowknife here, that there is a huge number of local people that are saying that a number of issues that they are telling us to not go ahead with it or scrap it or delay it or consider it again. I want to ask the Minister in terms of this policy here in terms of the people that we are hearing who are both vocal in terms of saying that it is discriminatory or it is not fair or we are going to be chasing them out. I want to ask the Minister, are those numbers high numbers in terms of what we are hearing in terms of the arrangement now or the policy that is being placed in terms of this supplementary health?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. I think what we agree on, and even the Members in this House and what we are hearing from outside, is that everybody says that we should find a way to include those people who are not included right now. I think the issue is about how we do that. The suggestions that have come forward in our public meetings are that we should do it by universality. Just make that part of the Canada, our NWT health care or bring them in by increasing taxes or progressive taxation or do it by reducing other government programs, but I think there is an agreement that we need to bring these people in. We have done the analysis of that and our position is that this is not an insured health service. This is supplementary health services. In most other parts of the country -- and there was an article done by Slave River Journal that did a cross country comparison -- by any comparison except for Nunavut, this program that we are proposing is more generous and it has wider coverage than any other available. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister answer me in terms of answering the question here in terms of this supplementary health benefit? It is not like the one that they have given to the aboriginal people or the Metis. That is the question that we are faced with. Can she then explain to me and residents in my riding, some of us in the Sahtu receive medical services under the federal government and some of the Metis constituents receive services under the GNWT and now we are talking about this issue here where we are talking about a co-payment plan for non-aboriginal people. I want to ask the Minister in terms of being clear to me in explaining how this is done in Canada and the Northwest Territories so we don’t get too far into the fine lines of who is covering who and who is getting what in terms of health care in the Northwest Territories.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I think those are the similar questions that I got when I did the Minister’s tour with Minister Lafferty through Monfwi. In Wekweeti and Whati we had some questions and we were able to clarify having a discussion.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for everybody out there to know that when we are talking about supplementary health benefits, we are not talking about what people know to be a health care coverage. Everybody in the Territories and Canada, you go and see a doctor or nurse, get a surgery, have a baby, have a hip replacement, all those are health care services that everybody is entitled to and none of that is changing, whether you are aboriginal, non-aboriginal, you live in Yellowknife or anywhere in Canada. What we are talking about is extended health services which is not part of Canada Health Act which is covered in provinces and territories in its own way by the policies and direction of each government. For the aboriginal people in Canada, there is a federal program, NIHB. We have Metis Health Benefits Program in the Territories. There are lots of people in the Territories who get this coverage through their employer’s insurance. What we are trying to do is to cover those who are not entitled to any of those programs to access this. This is for drugs, for glasses, and dental. Those are the extra health care benefits that people need to find a way to access. This is our suggestion for doing that for those who can’t have access elsewhere. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister explain to me what it would mean if this Legislative Assembly delayed the implementation of the new policy that she’s bringing forward? What would it mean to us, what would it mean to the people in the Northwest Territories?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

As has been said many times, this program has been reviewed since 2003 because people feel there are people who are excluded from this program and there are no means for them to appeal or to have us look at the list. Unless you are under Income Support, you do not get support for dental or vision care. So I believe that it is incumbent on the government to come up with a program that gives access to 100 percent of the people, but ask those who could afford to make a co-payment to contribute a little, contribute part of that, Mr. Speaker. This will be like any other, it’s like giving everybody an employer health insurance program and I believe this is essential for the sustainability and viability of our health care system going forward. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, report of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to table a sample postcard I made up on the occasion to help the citizens fight for supplementary health benefits because they matter. This is a postcard addressed to our Premier, Floyd Roland, and Sandy Lee and it simply states Make Health Care Benefits Universal, No to Co-Payments and Find Another Way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a number of documents to table. The first one is a letter to the Honourable Premier Floyd Roland, dated April 16th , from me, outlining a significant

number of concerns related to changes to the Supplemental Health Program, as well as some potential recommendations on how to move forward with fixing the policy without disadvantaging a significant population of the Northwest Territories.

The second tabled document I’d like to table is a response from Premier Floyd Roland dated May 6th ,

which doesn’t actually address any of the questions asked or talked to any degree about any of the recommendations that I made, but it does indicate that not only does Cabinet clearly approve the Supplemental Health Policy, it has also provided frequent direction on program development and implementation to the Minister of Health and Social Services and will review the program proposals again before anything is implemented. Collectively we remain convinced that asking those who can afford it to contribute something to their own costs, as most NWT residents already do.

The third document I’d like to table is the Policy on Supplementary Health Benefits.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The process is to table a document and not read it out. If you have a document to table, table the document as a whole and don’t read out the document. Thank you. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Okay, the next document I have to table is a policy on supplemental health benefits, 49-09, dated September 30

th, 2007.

The next document I have to table is a list of Extended Health Benefits Program conditions that are covered under the existing program, and the last document I have to table is a process convention for standing committee review of proposed policy initiatives and implementation action plans that was agreed to by Caucus in Fort Smith and we confirmed in Blachford Lake. Thank you very much.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members have heard, this Legislature played host last week to the first ever NWT Elders’ Parliament, and elders from across the Territory debated issues of great importance to them and also us. One of which was supplementary health benefits. I wish to table a motion that was adopted unanimously by the elders, a motion that recommends that existing supplementary health benefits coverage to seniors be continued. The motion also states that further consultation, study and revision is required before changes to seniors’ supplementary health benefits are implemented. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Again, I’d like to remind Members this is a process to table documents, not to read out documents. If you have a document, read out the title and table the document. The honourable Minister of Justice, Jackson Lafferty.