Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I will return again to a program which has probably had one of the longest gestation periods in the history of this Assembly: midwifery. I have recounted in past statements a history which stretches back to 2012 when public advocacy prompted the government to commission a midwifery review and expansion analysis report. Options for implementation were developed leading up to a full rollout in 2016-2017.

In 2015, the Minister said he was still committed to introducing midwifery, but with no money, a further study and public consultation would take place. Another study was completed, and not surprisingly, stakeholder feedback is again strongly in favour of expansion of midwifery services and improved maternal care. As to concrete plans for launching a service, there is nothing in the latest report or the 2018-2019 budget.

The department responded to committee questions by saying it is getting ready to prepare to begin to develop a program. A senior midwifery consultant has been hired. That position is laying the groundwork for future action by the Advisory Committee on Midwifery, including its role and establishment of a territorial midwifery program.

As to new midwives providing birthing support, nothing yet. One bright light is that, effective June 2017, women who must leave their communities for birth can now have an escort accompanying them. This is not a solution, as we are doubling on travelling and accommodation costs for escorts where a good part of this money could be spent on implementing midwifery.

For the third budget, now, I am back asking questions about midwifery. The Minister champions system transformation, and now is the time to get on board with midwifery. I will have questions for the Minister of Health on the concrete next steps to finally live up to the promises on the expansion of midwifery in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the past four months, I have heard a number of issues with the contractor that provide medical travel from Fort Simpson. I have heard of flights being delayed, rerouted, and even cancellations. This is not good for our residents. I have heard about at least 15 situations in this time. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share a couple of stories here today.

On New Year's Eve, the flight from Yellowknife to Fort Simpson return was cancelled. The airline decided to provide a different flight route, starting from Edmonton to Yellowknife via Fort Simpson via Inuvik. This meant patients had to travel at least an additional six hours instead of a regular one-hour flight.

However, some patients had to travel to Edmonton for cancer treatment. This added at least another two hours to their travel if they were able to catch the flight going to Edmonton. If they were able to catch the flight, it was without their luggage. Others who did not catch the flight, they had to overnight in Yellowknife, get up early to catch the flight to Calgary, and then on to Edmonton to make their appointment.

On the same flight, there was a person who broke his leg during the holidays. They were looking at him to go on this flight. This was not a good idea, and the patient decided that he was not going to do this. I wish the flight was an anomaly, but it wasn't. I have heard of this situation happening at least twice more.

The second story happens more frequently. A flight that is scheduled to leave Yellowknife in the morning to Fort Simpson gets changed until 5:00 that night. However, instead of going to Fort Simpson, they have to go to Hay River, and then onto Fort Simpson. This does not help patients who are returning home. Sure, they get a meal voucher, taxi fare, but they don't want to be walking around the city. Some do not get offered a hotel room, especially for patients who have been up early to catch a flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife. You want to get home to your own beds. The patients from Fort Simpson now miss their appointments.

I realize that the NWT has very harsh and unpredictable weather which can lead to a variety of issues, from planes going mechanical to limited visibility and ice problems, all of which can result in flights being cancelled and patients missing appointments. However, it seems to be too much of a regular occurrence for patients from the Nahendeh riding. To add to the issue, more work is placed on the medical travel staff to have to try and make arrangements and make appointment changes.

Mr. Speaker, I have given some examples, but I realize I only have two and a half minutes. I will close here. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later on today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I'm going to talk about the effects of alcohol in our small communities. Mr. Speaker, I do believe that, in my 10 years here in the Legislative Assembly, this will be the first time I am going to attempt to do a complete Member's statement in my language.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided]. Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would recognize my relative, Eli Nasogaluak, who my colleague from Kam Lake made a statement about, as well as Derrald Taylor from Tuktoyaktuk, and also to my wife Yvonne who is here today, and my step-daughter Marie who is somewhere in here as a Page. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish everyone a good day.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was listening. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a few people here today; Cathie Bolstad, the CEO of NWT Tourism. Welcome to the house, Cathie. Ainsley Lamontagne, marketing director from NWT Tourism. Everyone is going to get a kick out of this year. I'll do a little shout-out to Lillian Elias, my cousin from the Beau-Del. She is doing interpretation in Inuvialuit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize John Sabourin, Eli Nasogaluak, and Derrald Taylor. They are three world-class artists from my riding of Kam Lake who work at Frozen Rock Studio. Thank you very much for being here today.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the two interpreters we have from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, Mr. Tommy Unka and Mary Rose Sundberg. I would also like to recognize my new CA, Pascal Erasmus, who is in the gallery today. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Yellowknife North constituent Cathie Bolstad, also executive director of NWT Tourism. Welcome and thank you for being here.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Yvonne with the original, I have to get used to the new last name, Nakimayak. Sorry about that. With family ties back in the Norman Wells Sahtu area, and Ms. Cathie Bolstad, who I've met over the years here promoting a thriving industry. Mahsi.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my Member's statement with some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My first question for the Minister: does the department track how many patients from the Nahendeh riding missed appointments or have to reschedule appointments because of flight changes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our responsibility is to provide healthcare to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Yes, many residents do have to travel to Yellowknife or other locations to receive their care. Through medical travel, we book our flights on scheduled flights. We work with our residents to make sure that they know the information. The Member is right. From time to time, there are cancellations of flights. We do live in the Northwest Territories, where we do have adverse weather and other things that affect us.

We don't track the cancelled flights, Mr. Speaker, but we work with our residents to make sure that, if there is a cancellation, we get them on the next appropriate or available flight. If appointments have to be cancelled, then we work with them to reschedule those appointments and make them happen as quickly as we can. At the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, we know we live in the Northwest Territories. We know there are challenges and we work to resolve those problems. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for his answer. I realize we live in the Northwest Territories, but, again, if a contractor is not providing the services, we need to make sure we do deal with that. Has the department approached the contractor or have they approached the Department of Infrastructure to help get this situation fixed?

As much as I'd like to be able to control the weather, we can't. When there are flights cancelled as a result of weather, we work with our residents to make sure that those appointments are rescheduled and the flights rescheduled appropriately. The Member has brought that concern from his region to me. I share his frustration on the number of cancellations that occurred.

Following up on our discussions, the department did follow up with one of our main contractors from Medical Travel, who does the majority of the flights in the Nahendeh region. They indicated to us that it has been a particularly harsh winter. As a result, they have had to either reschedule or cancel a number of their flights.

Once again, our priority is to making sure our residents get the care they need and they're getting the appointments. We work with our residents. Yes, sometimes that means that appointments have to be cancelled, but we work with them to reschedule them as quickly as possible and to get them on flights as quickly as possible. It's not as always as smooth as we'd like, but we're committed to providing that service to our residents.