Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to use my Member’s statement to talk about a frustrating experience that a number of Members in this House share. It’s about a bureaucratic approach that continues to drag success down when people are trying to do the right thing.
The issue I would like to discuss in this House is about organ donation in the Northwest Territories. Now, I know that we have a small population and that Stanton cannot provide the highly specialized transplant services that many people do need in the world. But, like most organ harvesting and transplant operations that do have to happen, we send people to Edmonton. Like many of us, we’ve assumed that our health care services would be there, but it’s a sad story when I have to tell they are not.
Organ donation and transplant process we had thought was supported through the medical travel, but a number of Northerners who have tried to donate keep running into a wall when they try to support their loved ones. Some Northerners are transplant recipients. Some Northerners are transplant donors. The NWT health care system needs to pay particular attention to this system. We need clear policies and procedures that help people who want to do the right thing.
In absence of the policy, I could tell this House endless stories about people trying to get support and hitting a wall of pre-op care, medication for post-care, travel assistance with their loved ones. It’s a frustrating experience when it’s a very emotional time. I could tell you a story about a family who had to have a kidney operation and a child was giving it to their parent. They were upset to the point that they wondered if it would ever happen. In the end, they made the decision of saying they would do it if the government won’t help. Fortunately enough, the process did kick in as a one-off in that experience. I think that’s part of the problem. It’s turned into a one-off experience without a clear policy.
I think there’s leadership in the department that could help solve this problem. With National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week coming forward this April 18th to 25th, I’d like to hear the Minister maybe talk about the fact that we’re now going to have a policy in place to make sure that any NWT citizen that wants to go through this process, whether they want to be a living donor or they need a donation of a specialized organ, that the territorial government will be there for them, to help them in that time of need and crisis. I believe we can do better for our citizens and I’m sure we can.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
