Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a statement today regarding the cost of Medivacs to this government. I refer to the service that we have provided in the smaller communities, where time and time again individuals go to the health centre complaining about having the flu or a cold. Then it adds up to pneumonia and they are sent out of the communities to either a regional centre or, if it is an emergency, they are medivaced to Yellowknife or Edmonton. Mr. Speaker, that costs this government and the cost continues to rise.
Time and time again, Mr. Speaker, I have stood in this House and talked about the service that is being provided to individuals in the communities, and the fact that they have gone back to the health centres four or five times before the ailments are dealt with. The same thing applies to the Regional Hospital in Inuvik, where individuals have gone from the communities to Inuvik, some cases on their own, to see the doctors and have been told that there is nothing really wrong with you, come back in a couple of weeks. Then they find themselves going back again three or four times later, being medivaced to Edmonton or Yellowknife.
So something has to be done with this picture, Mr. Speaker. We have to find ways of being more responsible in preventing these illnesses, which could be dealt with through medications at the community and regional level. We do not want to find ourselves paying more in the long run for medivacs for an individual who becomes so ill because of a common ailment such as the flu, which becomes pneumonia, so they have to be sent to either Yellowknife or even southern Canada.
The same thing applies to the concerns I raised in this House about early detection for cancer. People complain of aches and pains in their stomach and are later diagnosed with having bladder cancer. There again is another example of the cost to this government. If we spend more time dealing with preventative measures and prevention of illnesses, I think it will result in a saving to this government. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister questions on this matter later today. Thank you.