Mr. Speaker, health care services in northern communities is an essential service. Mr. Speaker, when you don’t have the service, you definitely realize how important it really is for communities such as Tsiigehtchic that don’t have a permanent nurse, or ensuring that we have care providers in regard to community wellness positions, or a simple thing such as home care workers.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of times we talk about the programs and services here in the larger centres, not realizing for most of our small communities they can only dream of having those types of services.
Mr. Speaker, I think, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we really have to see exactly where our health care dollars are going, and more importantly, are we meeting the essential service requirements of Northerners, but more importantly, of our small communities.
Mr. Speaker, everybody talks about the high cost of medical travel, but, Mr. Speaker, the reality is that’s an important component of health care service being provided to our communities. In most cases that’s the only way out of a lot of our communities and also the ability to go to the larger centres, regardless if it’s here in Yellowknife or southern Canada.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s time that we realistically put what we mean by essential service and those things that basically are overprescribed for simply a luxury item. Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important that we do ensure that our capital investment in the health care dollar is spent where it really is needed. I think, Mr. Speaker, like I opened up with my statement, essential service is when people have a similar service in all the communities in the Northwest Territories so that we don’t have have and have-not communities when it comes to health care.
Again, Mr. Speaker, it is frustrating that I stand up here time and time again talking about a nurse for Tsiigehtchic or ensuring that we have the medical means of transferring people out of our communities, such as medevacs.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister of Health questions in regards to a central service in our communities, but more importantly, for those communities that don’t have these services. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
