Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A little follow-up to my Member's statement earlier. As I mentioned, nursing in Tsiigehtchic is a high priority for our community. You know, this time of year, usually there are nurses in Tsiigehtchic for up to two months, depending on the weather. With climate change, here we are on the 20th of October and, only today, a little bit of ice has started on the Mackenzie. So I'd just like to ask the Minister: when will the department have the nurse located in the community for freeze-up?
The department won't be putting a nurse in the community of Tsiigehtchic. It will actually be the Territorial Health and Social Services Authority. I can't tell the Member the exact date that they expect somebody will be going in there, but I'm happy to follow up on the Member's behalf, get him that information, and get him a concrete date.
You know, in the future, it's very important that we have a set date. I noticed the last couple of years we've been waiting for the ice conditions. The ferry is almost shut down on the side of Tsiigehtchic before the nurse is actually put in place. So just for the future, maybe we could set a date, whether it's October 15th, for example. Will the Minister please pass this on to the Health Authority?
Traditionally, as the Member has indicated, it's sort of been based on what the weather is suggesting, whether freeze-up is early or late. But I hear the Member and there might be some value in having set, fast dates so that the community has some certainty. I certainly think there is some merit to that.
I will certainly talk with the department and the authority to see what it would take to set some hard and fast dates so that the community can have some certainty. I don't know what that date might be. The Member has thrown out October 15th; that may or may not be appropriate based on, you know, averages of freeze-up. But, you know what, there is some merit there. I will certainly have a conversation with the department to see what it would take to make that happen.
While we're at it, maybe October 1st would work better.
---Laughter
Actually, the other point I wanted to raise was, usually the nurses are in the community until December 15th about, usually about the time the ferry access is open to Tsiigehtchic. The community has noticed that, last year, because of the crossing being put across at the Arctic Red first, the community noticed that the nurse had been taken out of the community earlier than usual, so they are very concerned and would like the department to have the nurse there until the same time, roughly December 15th?
I can't be aware of every specific decision that the authorities make, and I couldn't tell you when they chose to remove a nurse from a community, but I do hear the Member. Similar to his previous question about setting a set date for coming in, there might also be some value in having a set date for when an individual, a nurse, might cease their permanent stay in that community. I think that we could have that conversation at the same time, and I'm willing to do so.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While we do have a couple of weeks left here in session, so maybe I'll save this question for the Minister later and make sure we have a concrete date by the end of session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. I'll take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
