Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just an opportunity for some general comments and some issues that affect my constituents.

I think, most notably, I had done a Member’s statement and looked for some assurance from the Minister for the Fort Liard residents and about them using Fort Nelson and Northern BC Health Authority services given the advent of our new medical records initiative. I believe that the medical records can be transferred faster. There was a concern for the health centre in Fort Liard of residents getting medication in northern BC, then if they’re sick or ill the nurses and/or doctors visiting Fort Liard would not be aware of what medication the patient would have been using. I believe I had some commitment and if the Minister could continue with the assurance that he’s working hard on some kind of cross-border agreement with the Northern BC Health Authority, that we can make life much easier for the residents of Fort Liard and for our own medical travel. I believe it will have an impact on the medical travel costs by just doing this one easy thing with the Fort Liard residents.

Constituents often tell me they’re taking a two-day trip over here for a one-hour examination. It’s different if you've actually got surgery or something like that, but just for a one-hour examination and then you have to make the effort to go all the way to Fort Liard, you’re flying through Fort Simpson and, consequently, driving back to Fort Liard. It’s very disruptive and often Fort Liard is almost a 60 to 70 percent Aboriginal-speaking community, as well, so they’re travelling with a translator and escort as well. I’m glad they’re going to look at it. I’d just like the Minister’s assurance that they’re going to continue to look at that.

As well, another good reason to use Fort Nelson is because the coroner’s report on the death of a young baby in Fort Liard last year spoke about enhancing airports with automated weather reporting and that. I don’t know how far the department is pressing that. I also think the child was waiting almost eight hours for a medevac plane out of Yellowknife and, due to weather conditions, the plane wasn’t able to get there. If we had some kind of ambulatory service and/or vehicle or the ability to use Fort Nelson, I believe they could have driven that poor sick child to Fort Nelson in three hours. By the speed limits it’s a three-hour drive, maybe two and half hours, and that would go a long ways to addressing this. The coroner’s report didn’t speak about that. It spoke about enhancing airports. I’m in favour of that. I think we should continue to look at that, but having the ability to use Fort Nelson, I believe, would have been beneficial in this case and you always kind of look forward too. We look at that type, I don’t know if Fort Liard is big enough for a full-time ambulance, but if we had some type of medical vehicle there that we can do those trips over to Fort Nelson, not only for clients but also on an emergency basis, I think that would be a good solution in this case. It will show that our government is responsive and that the child’s death would not have been in vain. When those things happen, you really have to look and try to make life better for residents and the community.

During my recent constituency tour in January, most of the communities were excited about their community wellness plans. It was about prevention and promotion, and Members of this side have been stating they would like to see the budget fully at 3 percent. In this case with community wellness plans, lots of increasing the budget and creating some new programs. For example, the community of Trout Lake, with prevention and promotion, they’re accessing $18,000 on an annual basis. Forty percent of those programming dollars were roughly $6,000 of this $18,000 is used for travel. What happens there is it provides in balance of funding as opposed to easily accessible communities like Hay River and Norman Wells, and even, for the most part, Fort Simpson as well, only because they have to take aircraft charters to the remotest communities throughout the Northwest Territories. We have to give special consideration. I think if we’re accessing programming dollars for prevention and promotion for community wellness that there be additional pot towards travel, especially for remote communities. I’m not saying pay for all travel in all the communities, but I think if you’re identified as a remote, land-locked or air-only accessible community, we should address assistance in air charter costs, as well, instead of using our much needed programming dollars for travel.

In the opening remarks I was really pleased to see the increase in staffing to take care of our seniors in the three communities identified. I think that was a good move by the department to be responsive to those needs, because our workers do get overworked in the communities.

Just a further note, when my colleague from the Mackenzie Delta was calling for a nurse for Tsiigehtchic and I have been calling for a nurse for some time for the community of Wrigley, as well, and I think I always wondered it there in the background, but with the advent of increased traffic through the community, we’re going to have to revisit and develop a strategy about really having a nurse in the community of Wrigley. They are getting busier, they are getting impacted by industry. We have to work towards a strategy. I know that when they’re planning for the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and we’re going to access the $500 million impact fund, a part of the plan was actually to have nurses and nursing in Wrigley because of increased traffic and development. In the last couple of weeks I’ve been supporting my colleague in the Sahtu only because my constituency is being impacted. We really have to start looking at supporting the services in the communities impacted: Fort Simpson and Wrigley. I’d just like to use that very same momentum to cover off the needs of my communities.

Those are my general opening comments.