Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know we're in a health crisis and getting to see a doctor is harder and harder. And there are many steps we can take but one I would like to speak about today is giving our pharmacists, who go to school for many years and quite frankly often know the drugs they are prescribing better than the doctors themselves, the ability to prescribe basic medications. This is a recommended practice by Health Canada. All ten provinces will be able to provide this service in 2023, including the Yukon. But here in the Northwest Territories, we are falling far behind in what our pharmacists are capable of doing. There is a recommended list of minor ailments that Health Canada recommends pharmacists can prescribe as well as the limited ability to renew certain prescriptions. They estimate that this reduces emergency room visits by 35 percent, Mr. Speaker. Emergency room visits are vastly more expensive than a visit to the pharmacist.
At this point, Mr. Speaker, almost every other jurisdiction in Canada has done this. I will have questions for the Minister of health of when we can introduce changes to our Pharmacy Act and give a longneeded power to our pharmacists to help their clients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and refereeing the Paul Stipdonk Memorial Soccer Tournament. It was the first time since the pandemic cancelling the last couple of years. As I stated previously in this House, this tournament is a bit unique in that we don't keep score, teams are mixed up, and we do not have a winner or loser. The focus is on the youth having fun and playing the sport; something the namesake was all about. Besides playing the sport, the youth are given the opportunity to attend a skills competition event on Saturday.
This year we had athletes from Sambaa K'e and Fort Simpson. They were great sportsmen and ambassadors of their respective communities. It was amazing to see all their smiling faces and the fun they had over the weekend.
I am proud to say that Fort Simpson youth were great hosts and really enjoyed the games as they made new friends from the region. I was proud to say that parents and family of the athletes, whether they were from the community or from out of town, did an amazing job cheering and encouraging the youth. It was awesome to see the stands and the hall full of supporters.
Mr. Speaker, a special shoutout goes to the Mackenzie Recreation Association, Municipal and Community Affairs, the Village of Fort Simpson recreation staff, who kept the facility nice and clean, and most importantly Roslyn Firth and Jacqueline Whelly who dedicated many hours of organizing and making sure the event ran smoothly. To the speed skaters' mom, thank you for catering the whole weekend.
I would like to thank the Fort Simpson high performance athletes for being the coaches of the teams, helpers, and being great role models to the youth. It was great to see this capacity being built. I take great pride when I see young athletes paying back to the sport.
In closing I would like to use the words provided by one of the organizers: "A big special thank you to the Stipdonk family for letting us to honour their husband, dad, grandfather, and friend in a way that brings so many smiles to the youth."
Mr. Speaker, I would like to encourage my colleagues to give them a big round of applause. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
