Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s happening again, Mr. Speaker. The death of an elder in Wrigley has family members and friends asking valid questions. Why doesn’t Wrigley have a full-time nurse? Would this elder still be alive today if a nurse had been there to step in?

As if I need an excuse, I feel compelled, once again, to ask when the Department of Health and Social Services will remedy this situation. Wrigley and eight other small communities do not have full- time nursing staff.

Earlier this year the Minister of Health and Social Services stated in the House that his priority was to provide the best possible service to clients, including residents of all communities throughout the Northwest Territories. He said that he understands more needs to be done and he’s committed to finding solutions that work. So the government says it’s committed to providing high- quality health care to all residents regardless of where they live, and yet a handful of communities rely on occasional fly-in visits from nurses and doctors. It’s a scary situation when a serious medical emergency arises.

For years I’ve been pressing the government to staff the empty nursing station in Wrigley. We’ve been repeatedly told that Wrigley doesn’t meet the minimum threshold under the department’s service delivery model. A community has to have 250 people to warrant full-time nursing.

It’s time to rethink this service delivery model. Health care shouldn’t be reduced to a numbers game. As my people of Wrigley found out recently, when reliable access to health care isn’t a sure thing, lives hang in the balance.

The Department of Health and Social Services is in the process of streamlining the health system. They’re looking for efficiencies and cost-savings. This is exactly the right time for the department to review and renew its service delivery model.

At the appropriate time I will have questions for Minister Abernethy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.