Mr. Speaker, hostile situations at Stanton Territorial Hospital's emergency department are not out of the ordinary. Hospital staff, including nurses and doctors, are increasingly facing threats, verbal abuse, and even physical assaults. Last Saturday, when MLAs were notified about a person who had entered the facility in a hostile state, it was not clear what was so exceptional about this particular event. Only yesterday I was shocked to learn through the media that someone at the hospital had pointed a firearm at staff. This is a serious escalation of the violence emergency department staff were becoming accustomed to, and I am very grateful no one was hurt.
It is completely unacceptable, Mr. Speaker, that emergency department staff have cause to fear for their safety. The emergency department is vital to our health care system and has only become more essential with primary care changes that have limited access. The NWT's experiencing both a drug crisis and mental health crisis exacerbated by increasing poverty and homelessness. So it is no surprise that violence is escalating at an emergency department which has become the only place many Northerners can find care. With gun crime proliferating in the North, alongside the increase in drug activity, it would seem it was only a matter of time violence at the hospital would start including individuals armed, not just with knives but handguns as well.
The only thing standing between threats to staff are private security guards that have neither the training nor the commitment to handle firearms. They are not able to contain threats like these, and the hospital itself has no code silver for them to call despite repeated requests at occupational health and safety meetings from staff for new procedures like a code silver to be implemented.
Nurses are now asking me, Mr. Speaker, is the Minister listening to their concerns. Now I am asking the Minister will she do whatever it takes to keep them safe, including updating Stanton's standard operating procedures and providing security with the staff, resources, and training they need to do their jobs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
