Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the House I talked during my Member’s statement about our Territory needing a transplant policy that is clear, that can help northern families keep the family unit strong and united during those darker periods of life that no one certainly wishes upon them. My question to the Minister of Health and Social Services in the past is, would you look at this and it has been an outright no, feeling that we don’t have the money or whether the existing plan doesn’t really allow it or whatnot. That’s not so important as the question today, which is simply if the Minister of Health and Social Services will reconsider this request of mine, to examine the possibility of what it would cost to develop a policy to ensure that families who have loved ones out of the Territory for care do get a chance to respite. And certainly have a section in there in case something happens where it’s required to unite the whole family for one particular circumstance. Would the Minister be willing to at least investigate that possibility and see what it would cost the government if we were to go down that path?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, we have investigated this. I have responded to the answer to this. We are not in support of designing a separate program based on different medical conditions.
When somebody needs to go away for medical treatment, their needs are similar, whether an elder or somebody having brain surgery. We have mothers who need to be medevaced out or babies who need to be medevaced out. We have elders who need to be taken elsewhere. We provide all kinds of medical services where the family needs to be there. We provide that service. We have a Medical Travel Policy that allows for an escort. We believe that having one policy that applies to all is fair.
I’m not sure that’s necessarily right. The reason I say that is because one policy is great when the questions are simple. But in this particular case and other cases that have been presented by this House, our questions aren’t typically black and white. They require a lot of melding and forming to and fro. The Health Minister is correct, we do have a Medical Travel Policy, but people have been refused even with doctors’ notes. That’s why I’m suggesting that could an analysis of this particular situation, which has not been done, be considered at this time and we could examine what the true costs would be through an analysis and then make the type of decision could this government afford health care support in this regard.
I believe the Member is speaking about two different things. One is somebody who can be denied medical travel even if someone has a doctor’s note. Yes, that is possible. If a doctor prescribes uninsured service, they will not get medical travel.
The second thing is, the original point that he was suggesting is because of the situation of a family who has had a child needing a transplant is different, we should set up a different policy for that situation.
Mr. Speaker, as dire as the situation is, we get… I’m only aware of one situation, and to set up a whole new policy just for one situation, Mr. Speaker... I’m not saying all family situations are the same. I’m not saying all medical situations are the same. Yes, there are many unique situations. But the fact of the matter is, we require our residents going away for service for all kinds of different reasons. We get asked every day from families who would like government support to be with them and sometimes it’s for months. What we are saying is government policy is that we pay for one person. Yes, we could do more and we don’t even need to do the cost analysis. It just means that we have to pay more. We are doing what we can do with the resources we have. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this isn’t about one family, and I want to make sure that that’s absolutely clear. You know, it may be about one family to the Minister, but as I proposed it, and the Minister has discussed with me that there are other families that this could apply to, so you can’t say it’s one family only.
I’m talking about when your loved one dies in Edmonton and we have to leave their family here in Yellowknife or we have to leave them in Inuvik, we have to leave them in Fort Smith, we have to leave them wherever, that we don’t unite the family. We don’t have any kind of policy. And that does happen here. They only come one way and it’s not the right way.
So, Mr. Speaker, I’m asking the Minister to do that type of analysis about what it would take to unite families for that sort of opportunity. I think it’s more than just one family. It’s about good territorial policy that puts the importance of health care above everything else, and this is one of the issues. Would the Minister, once again I ask, reconsider this opportunity to look at this situation? Thank you.
I believe I answered that question. I really feel we have one policy that looks after our families and I don’t know what else to say. Thank you.
Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at one time there was a Compassionate Travel Policy and it was stopped. It could well be suited for particular cases like this. Would the Minister reinvestigate it from that point of view, from a compassionate point of view? I mean, all I’m asking her to do, and I want to be absolutely clear, Mr. Speaker, is I’d like her to do an analysis and we could cost it out and take it from a compassionate point of view when these situations are very dire, as the old Compassionate Travel Policy allowed. Would the Minister reconsider this under that circumstance? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe there was ever a compassionate policy. I am aware that there is a Medical Travel Policy. If you need a medical escort, you get one. The elders would have an escort. Somebody with a language issue will get an escort. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking me to do a compassionate analysis. Maybe the Member could tell me how do we decide what is more dire: a family who needs to be near a child who has had a transplant, a 90-year-old elder from Fort McPherson who’s dying of cancer who we don’t know how long it will take, somebody who’s had a brain… I’m just thinking of this thing. Somebody who needs to be in long-term care for three to six months in southern jurisdictions and I get asked for the whole entire community to come and stay with the family. Maybe the Member could tell me what is the indicator we use to do what is compassionate. We have people in small communities who need to be near a doctor. In Inuvik we have somebody from Fort McPherson. We have somebody from Ulukhaktok who needs to be in Inuvik or in Yellowknife. They need housing and they need their families to come in.
Mr. Speaker, this is not about cost. In health care when somebody needs medical care, they get their care. When they need an escort, they get an escort. And under the rule, we allow one person. Thank you.
The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
