Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I did my constituency visits in the Sahtu at the end of November, the community that I went to was Fort Good Hope. During my constituency meetings with the people in Fort Good Hope, a lot of speakers in my constituency spoke on the increase of cancer in that community. The people were saying that they’re very afraid. It’s very stressful for them. They’re very worried that they may be the next one diagnosed with cancer. People are being diagnosed on a monthly basis. They are very concerned with what is going on, with what is happening. There are some very healthy people who have cancer. There are some very young people who have cancer.
People are crying out for help. There has been an increase of cancer deaths in the Northwest Territories. It has increased in Fort Good Hope. Eighty-six percent of Fort Good Hope cancers diagnosed were people aged 50 and older. The top cause of cancer in Fort Good Hope was colorectal.
I had young people in the public meetings crying because they know that their father or mother is going to die. I’m going to ask the Minister what type of specific support there is or what we can do to help the people in Fort Good Hope to deal with cancer, deal with the families, the communities.
There’s a lot of sadness in Fort Good Hope because people are getting cancer at an alarming rate. They don’t know if it’s from the water, from the Mackenzie River or from the federal government buildings that are contaminated. They don’t know what the heck’s going on. They want answers. We need to provide support for the families and the young kids who are left to deal with the losses in their lives.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
