Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to discuss a subject that's been a sore point with the Town of Hay River for quite some time: the provision of highway rescue services. Highway rescue services involve the extraction of victims from accident scenes and the transport of victims to medical centres. The governments of the Yukon and British Columbia have assumed the responsibility for providing these services. In Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario the provinces regulate highway rescue through legislation. In the NWT, however, the responsibility for highway rescue is stuck in a perpetual grey area. As far as I've been able to ascertain, no single entity in the territory is responsible for providing this service and, as a result, no one funds it adequately. A report by MACA in 2006 identified this as an ongoing issue. As a frequent observer of town council meetings in Hay River, I can tell you that it is still an ongoing issue. Despite the lack of funding, the Town of Hay River has taken on the responsibility of servicing 800 km of highway in the South Slave and sometimes into Northern Alberta. Highway rescue vehicles, tools, and training are an added expense beyond what is needed for in-town ground ambulance services. This means that the town incurs higher operational costs and higher recurring capital costs. Some funding for ambulance service does exist: the town receives about $50,000 annually from the health authority and MACA. However, that is for in-town ground ambulance service. The pot of money MACA does have for available highway rescue is slated to be cut in this budget from $400,000 to $185,000.
To summarize the situation, the GNWT has absolved itself of providing or paying for highway rescue services because they know that the good people of Hay River aren't prepared to let people die on the highway. That, Mr. Speaker, is no way to govern. In addition, it appears that the recommendations from the 2006 MACA report haven't been implemented in the 10 years since. According to the government's business plan, the public safety division of MACA is leading an interdepartmental committee composed of Justice, Transportation, and Health to develop a strategy to support delivery of this service. I'll have questions for the Minister of MACA to see if in fact any progress has been made on this lingering issue and how we can move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Frame Lake.
