Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement wherein I spoke about Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte residents accessing health services in Fort Nelson, BC. I just wanted to speak with the Minister of Health and Social Services with regards to that.

He was travelling in my constituency in May. He heard from the residents about the type of care that they do get from Fort Nelson. Part of the barrier there is that they’re not being referred there. They’re going there and they have been using it for decades, but their travel costs aren’t being covered to go there...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to hear the Minister of Health’s statement on the transformation of our health system, but today I want to let the Minister know that we simply must ensure that our residents in Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte’s health needs are taken care of. They want to be served by the BC Ministry of Northern Health in Fort Nelson, BC.

The Minister travelled with me in May and heard clearly from the residents that they are treated fairly and with care when they go to Fort Nelson. In fact, our residents have been treated in Fort Nelson for decades. They’re only asking to...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, I can say unequivocally on behalf of the residents of Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte that they’re not choosing to go there. It’s just that over time they’ve developed trust issues about service of health delivery within our own system. But aside from that, if we can develop this base, the residents have a working relationship already. I’m just asking our government, let’s formalize this, let’s work a way around it, let’s continue supporting our residents getting the proper health and close to home delivery of health care that they can.

When the Minister talks about using our health services in Fort Liard, that’s an entirely different question, because the Minister is well aware of the other concerns with regard to people not trusting or else being dismissed by our Fort Liard Health Centre, but that’s an entirely different issue altogether.

What I’m talking about is when Alberta had the Capital Health Services we had a written agreement to use their services, their facilities, with our medevac services, et cetera, and now they’re called Alberta Health. I’d just like to ask the Minister exactly what type of arrangement or...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize three of my hearts in the gallery today: my loving partner, Ms. Lucyanne Kendo; a wonderful stepdaughter, Brittany Jewel; and my very smart grandson, Kayleb Black-Villeneuve. Welcome to the gallery.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. All right. I’ll await that confirmation. I just wanted to ask for another hour for my further questions, Mr. Chair.

---Laughter

I’ve got no further questions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased that they’ll look at it here right away. Like I said in my Member’s statement, a particular case is an elder needs his water tank replaced and in that case he cannot come up with the $1,200, but it’s a need for that elder and his family. Water and cleanliness is one of our basic needs. So, I appreciate the Minister looking at that immediately and if he can, once again, to look at it and review certain situations. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just with regard to road licensing and safety, residents of Fort Liard still find it burdensome that they’ve got to drive all the way to Fort Simpson each time they need to get their vehicle registration and/or trailer registration. I know that we were supposed to have a mobile licensing unit out there. I don’t know if they ever got that going, or has online registration advanced to the point where they can do it from the comfort of their community? Thank you.

Thank you very much. I know that when I first began in the Assembly with the 15th Assembly, we did have a specific seniors or elders housing program which spoke to giving relief for those kind of things. I’m wondering if the Minister is willing to look at it in that perspective in identifying specific seniors or elders repair programs. Thank you.

I know that in the past few years that the highway between Fort Simpson and Wrigley there was investment in replacing culverts and almost like mini-bridges, so I’ll just ask one more time if there are any plans for replacing any more culverts towards Wrigley.