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.