Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like this Assembly to make a decision that will save lives. I know the good Ministers of Health and Municipal and Community Affairs are listening closely and I would really appreciate their support on this. Fort Liard needs an ambulance. To support that service, an agreement is also needed between the health systems in NWT and British Columbia to ensure emergency service is available in Fort Nelson for our residents. There are many good reasons to provide this service and to train staff to deliver it, but one key stands out above the rest.
A year and a half ago, a young infant died because the medevac flight could not get to Fort Liard quickly enough to save a life. For lack of a reliable weather report, a plane did not leave Yellowknife for almost five hours, according to the coroner’s report. But even then, it took another three and a half hours to fly to Liard and return to Yellowknife.
This little girl’s life just slipped away. If there was an ambulance in Fort Liard, she might have lived. In three hours she could have been driven to Fort Nelson. It was a very sad loss for her family and the whole community. I want to be sure we learn every lesson we can so that nothing like that happens again.
As you know, Fort Liard is some distance from Yellowknife by air. Weather being what it is, especially near the mountains, flight delays are fairly common. Quite often when cloud ceilings are low, the road is still easily travelled. It is Fort Liard’s main supply route and is travelled by many tourists. I won’t even get into the statistics and conditions on the use of Highway No. 7 today.
It is obvious that additional emergency service providing an ambulance would be a great benefit. Some of the costs would be recovered by reducing the number of expensive medevac flights. Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I think I am putting this too gently. I do want to concentrate on what is important here. An ambulance in Fort Liard will save lives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
