Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I spoke about the Health and Social Services Draft Strategic Plan and the concerns of the Northwest Territories Medical Association had with that report. Today, I would like to make some further comments the Medical Association had about this voluminous final report issued by Med-Emerg International.
For example, the report suggests moving further into regionalized health care. There are no doubts, many benefits and reasons to have this process and to have regional boards, but we need to proceed with careful thought and consideration. While regionalization seems to be the trend, some provinces with regionalized plans are currently re-evaluating them. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are, in fact, reassessing their regionalized systems and moving back to a central health system because it is both effective, cost effective and necessary to ensure all residents have access to the same health care regardless of where they live. Why? Perhaps it is because regional boards cannot tackle all the challenges. I think our recent debate around the need for early detection and screening programs for breast cancer has pointed out the potential shortcomings of handing all the responsibility over to regional boards. It is not enough to have regional boards setting individual priorities. Where does that leave residents whose problems do not fall into the list of priorities of their particular region? This example, and other arguments made by the Northwest Territories Medical Association, are reasons for us to proceed cautiously and carry on diligent consultation with the many organizations who can contribute valuable insight. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.