Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as reported in the Yellowknifer last Friday and CBC Northbeat last night for the second time, a young, healthy mother in my constituency is about to follow up with a very difficult decision to induce her otherwise healthy, unborn baby in her 37th week of pregnancy. This is because she and her family doctor do not have faith in the contingent of locums the Minister of Health has in place for July 1st in the event it becomes necessary to rely on them. Mr. Speaker, this is a totally unnecessary medical intervention and a real glaring example of how what we do and not do in this House translates directly into the real life of real people in our communities.
I have been hearing a lot of other compelling medical stories, as well, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my strong belief that all of us as leaders inside and outside of this House have a role to play in bringing a resolution to this crisis. I also understand and accept the age-old principle that politicians should not get involved in labour negotiations. The important fact to keep in mind here is that there is no negotiating going on for us to be interfering with. It is the government that has been negotiating, and this legislature is not the government.
Mr. Speaker, in fact, the Minister's press statement last Monday, June 2nd, was entitled Specialist Negotiations End Without Contract. The Minister has also stated that the doctors have rejected a final offer, and an offer of arbitration from the government was rejected and that there was no other offer being worked on by the government. The Minister has also presented his contingency plan on this premise.
Mr. Speaker, this stalemate cannot be allowed to continue. There is just too much at stake and I call upon both parties, the specialist doctors and the government, to go back to the negotiating table and restart the negotiations, not at the end of the month, not when they hear from the other side, but now.
I urge both parties to pick up the phone and set the dates for negotiation at the earliest possible opportunity and not at the end of the month. I urge them to keep talking until they hammer out their differences. Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing a lot from the constituents on my press release and other public statements in this regard. I can tell you that I am hearing a full spectrum of opinions. Believe it or not, I heard from someone who said...