Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 24/02) - Health and Social Services Minister Michael Miltenberger faced a barrage of questions over the handling of his portfolio as the legislative assembly drew to a close last Wednesday.

Hay River North MLA Paul Delorey criticized Miltenberger's department for cancelling mammography services for Hay River women.

Miltenberger said he was not aware that "mammography van" trips to the community had been cancelled, but promised to look into it.

The cost of the service is $15,000, said Delorey.

Delorey said the cancelled visits to Hay River act as a double-edged sword when the same residents are forced to take a trip to Yellowknife for mammography tests while paying their own way.

"Would the minister please advise if he is aware of the problems encountered by women travelling to Yellowknife for mammograms and are being refused mammograms due to the fact that there are no technicians on duty when they get there?" asked Delorey.

The debate grew even more heated after Range Lake North MLA Sandy Lee accused Miltenberger of forcing the Stanton Regional Hospital to close its Intensive Care Unit to trim $1.7 million in debt.

"I would like to suggest that it is the minister who is negligent in forcing the health board to come up with this debt recovery plan" said Lee during question period.

Miltenberger denied ever making such a demand, but not before voicing his displeasure with Lee's remarks.

"Mr. Speaker, that is twice now since yesterday that the member has stated that I am negligent, that the Stanton board is negligent," said Miltenberger. "This is a job I take very seriously and I do not really appreciate the imputation."

Road through the Dogrib

North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty remained persistent with his demands for cabinet to consider putting a highway through the Dogrib region into the GNWT's Strategic Infrastructure Proposal.

The GNWT is asking Ottawa to contribute $133 million from its $2 billion Strategic Infrastructure Plan for a number of NWT highway projects, including lengthening the Ingraham Trail to meet the NWT's three diamond mines near Lac de Gras.

Lafferty said it makes more sense to start a new road at Rae-Edzo to service both the mines and Dogrib communities in the region.

If a road to the mines is built through the Dogrib region, less damage would occur to the Ingraham Trail from heavy trucks driving on it, said Lafferty.

He also criticized cabinet for including the Ingraham Trail in their proposal without consulting regular members, and paying too much lip service to Yellowknife.

"The status quo has been that the Yellowknife area has dominated budget considerations and subsequently, other regions have had little chance to grow or to develop," said Lafferty.

Premier Stephen Kakfwi ack-nowledged that a Dogrib route was never entertained in the government's infrastructure proposal, but said MLAs will be consulted about the final allocation of infrastructure dollars.

Minister in the know

Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development Minister Jim Antoine said federal Industry Minister Allan Rock wasn't even aware that the Canadian Competition Bureau, which falls under his portfolio, had made an unfavourable ruling last year regarding Canadian diamonds.

The Competition Bureau ruled that diamonds only need to be mined in Canada to constitute a "Canadian diamond." The territorial government wants the Competition Bureau to include cutting and polishing in its definition of Canadian diamonds.

Antoine was in Vancouver last week pushing Northern diamonds at the World Diamond Congress.

He said Premier Stephen Kakfwi spoke with Rock two weeks ago and Rock promised to look into it.