Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Minister of Health and I did a tour in the Sahtu, we listened to the people in our communities of the Sahtu. One of the things that we heard was that people talked about cancer, people who are dying or have died of terminal illness, and they talked about a government compassion policy to help people at their last stages of their life. People talked about one of the hardest things they have encountered was when they take their family and loved ones to the airport not knowing if that would be the last time they’re going to see them. If there’s any type of policy in the government to help them be with their loved ones.
With the policy right now, we have to argue with the administrative medical travel to see if they fit the requirements. We asked if this government here could look at a policy that would be a compassionate policy that would support family members to travel either to Inuvik or to Yellowknife or even further south to be with their loved ones in their last dying days on this land here. The people talked about how hard it is. Sometimes they have to argue with government administrative offices to let them get on either as an escort, or they create some other barriers that just frustrates the people in our communities to travel with their loved ones.
What happens is that people go back to a time in history where a lot of our people went to Edmonton under the TB sickness and they have never seen their loved ones come back north. A lot of them are buried in the South. Today people are still talking about that, so it gets to be very emotional.
I want to ask the Minister later on what type of compassion policy the department has with people who have terminal disease and someone is dying, and what the family can do to help, and more importantly, how can the government help our people get down there on time with the people and stay with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Colleagues, before we go on, I’d like to welcome long-time past Member Mr. David Krutko, a former Speaker, Minister and long-time serving Member for the Mackenzie Delta. Welcome.
---Applause
The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
