Mr. Speaker, I’m not comfortable talking about specific individuals, but with respect to the Medical Travel Policy, a recommendation can come from the practitioner. But when it comes to non-medical escorts, there are some guidelines and not all non-medical escorts are approved.

This is clearly an area that needs improvement. We have heard from residents all across the Northwest Territories, that when you’re dealing with chronic conditions like cancer or other issues, you need emotional, compassionate support, and non-medical escorts needs to be reviewed. This is going to be included in the review that’s going to be conducted once the RFP goes out, and I’m hoping that we can take some immediate action on addressing non-medical as well as medical escorts.

The RFP, as I said, will be out early this summer and we should have something to have discussions with committee by the end of the summer/early fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.