Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, we are seeing a budget go wistfully by and, yet again, our potential territorial hospital has been bypassed. Let me say those words again, Mr. Speaker, territorial hospital.
We continually hear by this government that we have competing priorities, that roads are more important than territorial health and that an office building is more important than territorial health. Yet this government continues down a path of priorities where economics and practical sense collide.
A recent visit by the majority of Regular Members to our territorial hospital showed, clearly, a dire need for new facilities. This facility was designed for only 10,000 patient visits a year. We are now doing over 20,000.
The Minister of Finance, during our general comments on main estimates, admitted that this hospital is in need for a midlife retrofit. He is on record as saying it’s going to require $200 million to $300 million, yet we see no signs or signals in this budget to begin the planning for this.
The Finance Minister’s comments of “we’re on the road of taking care of that” leaves the average NWT residents wondering if they, too, can go down to their local bank and ask to withdraw some of this “taking care of that” money.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker, we’re taking care of that. What does that really mean? Unless this Assembly and the people of the Northwest Territories see it on the books as a priority within the budget line, there is no taking care of that and that is for sure.
If the Minister of Finance does not think we need to spend any more of our budget on health care, fine. He has every right to believe in a legacy of a fiscal restraint policy of don’t get sick. Let me remind everyone listening today, with our imminent landscape about to go into full throttle, our new $800 million shiny platinum Visa card is ready to be inserted into the chip reader and Premier McLeod has the PIN number.
So, back to the territorial hospital. While our health care providers are clearly working out of closets or having to trip over pallets of medical supplies in the hallway or having to eat their lunch outside because they just lost their coffee room for a new service, our government will be keying in the PIN number to withdraw funds that have nothing to do to ensuring the future of our health care. But not all is lost, Mr. Speaker, as I’m sure the voters will be taking care of that in the next election. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
