Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is one of our government’s priorities to bring health services as close as possible to the people who need them, but we still have communities without nurses. Wrigley is one of these communities. Three years ago I thought we were making progress towards restoring this critical service for the people there, then the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority decided not to go ahead. It seems to have forgotten about it ever since. Why our government has not insisted that nursing service in Wrigley is a priority I do not know. It is time to revisit that decision.
With new oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu region, Wrigley is experiencing more visitors, activity and traffic. It is the only community on the long winter road from the Sahtu to the Mackenzie Highway and it is about halfway between Tulita and Fort Simpson.
The decision to hire a nurse in Wrigley should not depend on the $500 million Pipeline Impact Fund, which was going to be tapped for that back in 2010. We are seeing the impacts of increased development now, but not a pipeline. In any case, the decision should be based on what is best for the health of our people.
I will remind the Minister that there is already a nursing station in Wrigley; a nurse is all that is lacking. People have felt this shortage for far too long. Diagnoses of some illnesses can take longer than it should. In the cases of some cancers, for example, this can be a matter of life or death. This is a problem in Aboriginal communities across Canada, but I thought we were doing better than the rest.
I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
