Robert Bouchard

Legislative Assembly photo

Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was going.
Historical Information Robert Bouchard is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly November 2015, as MLA for Hay River North

Lost his last election, in 2015, with 35% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Hay River Health Centre Maintenance Services March 2nd, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you well know, we have a new health centre going into Hay River. We’re hoping later this year that it will be open, and it looks like it might even be a bit ahead of schedule.

One of the situations with the new health centre that we’ve been hearing rumours about for the last year is maintenance staffing may change. With the current health system, we have a hospital and we have our own maintenance crew that takes care of all the maintenance in the facility, takes care of room temperatures and any medical equipment that needs to be adjusted or repaired is done by that maintenance crew. The majority of the snow removal is done by that maintenance crew several

times a day. It’s a high-demand, highly necessary service that we get at our authority.

About a year ago my colleague and I from Hay River started hearing rumours that Public Works and Services want to take over the maintenance of the new health centre. I guess we have some concerns on how that’s going to roll out. We’ve been asking both the Ministers of Health and Public Works what the plan is going forward on this maintenance. We continue not to get any answers on it. We’re continuing to not get any direction.

The maintenance people who currently work there are a hardworking group, and they need to hear what the plan is going forward. These people have lives; they have families that are dependent on their employment situation. They want to know exactly what’s going to happen in the future.

We also know that we need that high maintenance. We need that service immediately. We don’t want to have to put in a request to Public Works and Services and wait for three days to get a response, or even a day later. Some of this stuff has to deal with clinical response time and needs to be immediate. We need to have staffing in the health centre directly for maintenance.

I will have questions for both the Ministers of Health and Public Works and Services later, to ask about where we’re going for maintenance, and we need these answers sooner than later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Report of Committee of the Whole March 1st, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Tabled Document 188-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2015-2016, and would like to report progress. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Question 721-17(5): GNWT Student Recruitment March 1st, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know I’ve stated in this House before that that’s how I came back to the Northwest Territories after my degree. I had a job coming back.

Are we doing that type of internship where you actually have an employee who is basically finishing up their degree and coming back to the Northwest Territories?

Question 721-17(5): GNWT Student Recruitment March 1st, 2015

Mr. Speaker, I’m not looking for the summer students, I’m looking for students who are in their third and fourth year, so they have an opportunity to come back. We have a goal to have 2,000 more people come to the Northwest Territories, and I think getting our students back to the Northwest Territories is key.

Is the department willing to go and talk to those students and tell them we have certain jobs, we have some internship jobs for you, so that they’re not looking to go? I’m not looking for summer jobs where we just say, well, you just apply. I want to know that we’re getting our students who have a degree, who have business certificates, who have trade entrance-type stuff coming back to the Northwest Territories.

Question 721-17(5): GNWT Student Recruitment March 1st, 2015

Mr. Speaker, maybe I’m oversimplifying it. It seems like we have a set amount of students. I would say we have maybe 1,000 students. Are we not able to contact those students and tell them that these are the positions we have available, we’re interested in you coming back and doing an internship, so that they’re not looking for jobs in the South and they’re not looking to go anywhere else except come home to the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 721-17(5): GNWT Student Recruitment March 1st, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Human Resources today. He spoke today about our positions in getting students jobs. Obviously, it’s a priority of mine. I’ve had questions before in the House. Obviously, the Minister’s statement says we’re going to have the students research GNWT departments and agencies to find units related to their field.

The first question I have is: Is the department going to be proactive and go to the students and make contact? From what we know, they now have the ability to make contact with them. Are they going to contact the students and tell them the positions they have vacant and the positions that are coming up?

Hay River Chamber Of Commerce Agm And Awards Ceremony March 1st, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This weekend, along with my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen, we were able to attend the Hay River Chamber of Commerce. Annually they announce the Citizen of the Year, and I’m proud to say that the winner of this year’s Citizen of the Year is Louise Schumann. Louise has been a long-term Northerner, has lived in Hay River for a long time, has supported play school and minor hockey, and more recently she was one of the driving forces to make the Hay River Skate Park a reality.

They also named the Customer Service Award that went to Juaning Capulso, and the Hay River Business of the Year was Super A Foods, so I’d like to send out congratulations to John and Tracy Hill and Steve Anderson.

At this function they also named the new executive of the Hay River Chamber. The president is Joe Melanson; first vice-president, Steve Anderson; second vice-president, Sherry DaRosa; treasurer, George Blandford; secretary, Allison Steed; and directors are Mark Huntley, Wayne Taylor, Heather Coakwell, Tom Lakusta, Wally Schumann, Kevin Wallington, Tim Hinz and Kelly Schofield.

It was a great event. We had great entertainment. I’d like to thank Anne Peters, the executive assistant to the Chamber of Commerce for making everything a huge success. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 710-17(5): Physician Recruitment February 25th, 2015

I guess the other question that I have about health and professionals is are there other positions that we are having difficulties filling, whether it’s any specialists in any of the communities or in Yellowknife that we’re having troubles filling?

Question 710-17(5): Physician Recruitment February 25th, 2015

My next question about the doctors is: Are we getting them to move to the Northwest Territories? Are they staying in the Northwest Territories? Are we still using a lot of the locums to come into the Northwest Territories and then go back to their home communities in southern Canada?

Question 710-17(5): Physician Recruitment February 25th, 2015

Mr. Speaker, I have questions specific to Hay River and I’m wondering, because of Hay River’s special consideration of not being part of GNWT employees, if we’re having any difficulties in putting those doctors into Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.