Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s perspective again. I spoke today about the creation of an independent oversight body, but that is still down the road. As public reaction in March demonstrated, people are not satisfied with thecurrent flow of information from the project team. A meeting to explain major demolition already underway at the site was given on three days’ notice and was poorly advertised. There was no proactive exposure last year of information on a dam failure and later a sinkhole. As a co-proponent of this project, this government has a responsibility and can exert influence to do better. There is a real opportunity and a need for

leadership, so this Minister has a real opportunity. Will this government urge the federal government to beef up its public information efforts? Mahsi.

Thank you. Communication is a critical component of just about everything we do. In this case, the Member has highlighted a number of areas where communication hasn’t been as proper, and thorough, and laid out in advance as it should be. Of course, I’ll commit to make sure that in our discussions, both ourselves as a territorial government and the federal government, do a better job in making sure that information flows properly and that the issue of transparency is addressed, as has been attempted to do through this oversight committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I heard on the CBC News and I had a phone call yesterday, actually, from a person in Fort Good Hope, that the elders are wondering what happened to their pension cheques. They’ve been waiting for a long time. So I want to ask the Minister responsible for Seniors if he’s aware of this and is he helping the elders in Fort Good Hope to find out what happened to their pension cheques from the federal government.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have tracked the situation. We recognize that it’s a federal government issue. We know the Minister and we have provided some information to the MLAs office, but we’re also prepared to make contact with that federal Minister to find out the details of why those cheques were late. Thank you.

The elders in Fort Good Hope are going through this a second time. There’s a glitch in the federal government’s system and I’m glad the Minister is on top of this issue. I want to ask the Minister if he’s working with his colleagues for this situation where some of the elders do not have the money to pay for some of their bills that the territorial government has issued, the power bill or some other bills, the housing bills. So is the Minister helping our elders in Fort Good Hope with the bills that are being poured on them by this government?

Thank you. I’ve not had that discussion with the Minister of Housing as far as any costs that may be coming from the Housing Corp, or had any discussion with the Minister of Education as in income support to carry the

pensioners over until their cheques come. What we’ve been doing is trying to find out why they’re late and we’re going to be following up at the request of the MLA, follow up with the appropriate department federally to find out what the issue is with the two months in a row where their cheques are delayed. Thank you.

Thank you. This week is Elder Abuse Week. We should send that message to Ottawa. There’s a glitch in here and elders are taking quite a bit of abuse here. So I want to ask the Minister, is he going to inform his counterparts in Ottawa that enough is enough and that this is the second time, and somehow the elders in Fort Good Hope are going to be reassured that there are other alternatives that can be used to make sure that the elders get their cheques on time. Can the Minister do that?

Thank you. Yes, I’m prepared to call the Health Minister in Ottawa or if she’s in her Iqaluit office, to have this discussion with her. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe we should all go to Ottawa and tell the federal government some of the issues here that are important here to us in the small communities.

Can the Minister tell me if, once he’s made some contact with our MP or the officials or the Minister in Ottawa, that he can inform the people through the chief and council in Fort Good Hope that this issue has been looked after once and for all?

Thank you. Yes, I’m prepared to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of Health and it’s going to deal with pharmaceutical and prescription drugs, and I’ll be very easy on the Minister, Mr. Speaker.

The term “off-label use” is a term used in the industry where it means a drug has been discovered to have properties of use or therapeutic use for something that was outside of its intended use. In a lot of cases, drug companies don’t go to the case of actually making proof of claim because of costs. Drug benefits such as Blue Cross, extended health will look at this synopsis and make their decision whether a drug is covered or not. So again, off-label use does have a merit out in practice.

My question for the Minister is: Does the department have a program in place to deal with the therapeutic advantage of using off-label drugs for therapy and is there a process in place for people in the Northwest Territories to go to get these prescriptions covered? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Member’s may know, Cabinet direction for all extended health benefits, any health benefits that we provide, and as far as drugs and other services go, are in line with the non-insured health benefits that are provided by the federal government for First Nations. So if we were to go off of that system, that would be contrary to Cabinet direction. But we do have a system to look at these cases on a one-on-one basis. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister is correct; and non-insured health benefits are used as a means for formulary design. However, that system does have some gaping holes in the process and currently, right now, if a patient was to question viability of a drug being covered, it goes to Inuvik to extended benefits for review and it is reviewed, hopefully, by an independent source or a professional source. Does the Minister have information whether or not there is a process for a review that goes outside the formulary design of intention? Thank you.

Thank you. At this point any drugs that are considered to be off-label drugs that have benefits other than what’s indicated and approved by Health Canada, is on a one-off basis, like I indicated. It’s requested by the physician so that an individual that is prescribed drugs and is having a positive effect in another area, the exception can be requested by a physician. The physician’s request will then go to Alberta Blue Cross for review and then it will come back to Health and Social Services for consideration.

Thank you. So what we’re hearing here is that there is a peer review process involved, that physicians are involved and it goes to Inuvik for further review. But can the Minister indicate to the House if there is an unfavourable response from this peer review, is there an appeals process that a patient or another health care provider can follow in order to get that drug covered? Thank you.

Thank you. Because this has occurred several times over the last few years, the department is actually now currently working on an appeal, a formal appeal process that we’re hoping to get developed very soon. I don’t know the exact intention or the date of when this formal appeal process will be completed, but we are currently working on that process now.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s very encouraging to hear that we are working towards an appeals program, but that could take several months, maybe years, to achieve. In the interim, can the Minister make a commitment to look, on a case-by-case basis, if it is brought to the department to look at those patients who are waiting in the wings patiently to hear from this government, so that they can get their drugs approved for their therapies that are not previously being covered by our programs?