Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seeing as it is Valentine’s Day and February is Heart Health Month, I would like to do my Member’s statement on cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the Northwest Territories along with cancer. One of the leading high-risk behaviours that contribute to cardiovascular disease is tobacco use. In fact, tobacco doesn’t only contribute to cardiovascular disease but it does contribute to a high health care system, increases our health care costs in the Northwest Territories. One thing that should be duly noted is that tobacco use is also the number one preventable cause of all of these diseases and deaths that we see, not only in the Northwest Territories but in Canada and throughout the world.
Mr. Speaker, every 11 minutes a Canadian dies from tobacco use. Every 10 minutes two Canadian teenagers will start smoking and one of them will die prematurely. Tobacco use, as I stated, is the single most preventable cause of premature death and it is something that needs to be addressed.
I would like to commend the Stanton Territorial Health Authority for the work that they are doing in making their place of work smoke free and all of the premises smoke free and going along the same as throughout Canada. I would also like to commend all of the work that the Department of Health and Social Services is doing in terms of tobacco control, My Voice, My Choice, the Don’t Be a Butthead program. I think it is something that this government needs to continue to do and denormalize the use of tobacco, drugs, alcohol, all types of addictions through policies and legislation that we can bring up in this House here and make it harder for people who are addicted to these substances, get them to quit or even get them de-normalized within our society.
I commend all the work that this government is doing, and I will commend all the work that they will continue to do to fight this addiction of tobacco that is contributing to the high health care costs that we see in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
