Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Canadians en masse are working to access health care. They are waiting for elective surgeries, access to specialists, testing and treatment requirements of cancers, chronic disease, and STIs, and a surge in addiction and mental health support needs. In addition, special treatment programs like audiology, speech pathology, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy appointments put off over the pandemic further bottleneck our already fragile system. The catchup, Mr. Speaker, will take years, and some national experts speculate that the Canadian health care system may never catch up under its status quo approach. Today, to help alleviate the pressures of our health care system, many Canadian jurisdictions expanded the scope of practice to pharmacists. And I say many, Mr. Speaker, not all, because it is all except the NWT and Nunavut.
This term brought minor amendments to the Pharmacy Act and a promise of more ambitious legislation, but with five sitting days left in this month I am doubtful that I will see this promise realized.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about three examples of what this really means. Pharmacists can't prescribe medications for simple things like smoking cessation, minor ailments or conditions like chronic UTIs, or adapt a prescription to suit the needs and reactions of a patient. From flu shots to routine immunizations and travel vaccines, pharmacies can't offer convenient access to injections. NWT pharmacists have no injection authority. Beyond flu vaccines and COVID vaccines, a pharmacist can't even administer the medications they have handed to a patient. This means taking their medication, booking an appointment with primary care, and then having their medication injected by a nurse or physician, further straining our system. Patients can't work with pharmacists to sort out medication amounts or source alternatives.
An example of this is a Parkinson's patient who worked for two years to stabilize their medication. The current system forced a harmful back and forth between a taxed locum reliant system with zero continuity of care rather than empowering managing prescriptions with the pharmacist.
Mr. Speaker, this also causes a barrier to Indigenous residents covered by NHIB for things that should be easily accessible, like birth control, Tylenol, and diabetes devices like glucose test strips. With the current Act, residents need to request a prescription from a doctor and then go see a pharmacist to source these items. Canada's pharmacists are doing more for their patients than ever before, but they continue to be an underutilized health care resource in the Northwest Territories. When they can't practice to their full scope, Mr. Speaker, it means that patients aren't receiving the best possible care and the system can't work to its full potential. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
