Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I find it an unfortunate reality that with every GNWT crisis it takes something exploding before all the facts eventually come out.
I find it very concerning that in media articles, when our nurses are talking about our obstetrics unit, they ask for anonymity for fear of repercussions of their job, Mr. Speaker. And I think this is a systemic problem across all the GNWT.
I find it concerning that we would release any public statement on closing down a unit without first getting approval and talking to the people in that unit. And, Mr. Speaker, it seems that as these things unfold, there's one line of messaging coming from senior management and the Minister's office and then, eventually, there's another line of messaging coming from the people who actually work there.
And, Mr. Speaker, when faced with two different sources, I'm always going to trust the frontline people who actually work in that unit.
Mr. Speaker, when the explanation was given as to why we are closing down this unit, nowhere was it mentioned that in fact for years the nurses there have been demanding more position. They have been saying that they are overworked and not adequately funded in that unit. It took nurses, who now fear repercussion from that same management, to speak out publicly in the media.
Mr. Speaker, I would have thought at that press conference the first thing you would have done is got an OBS nurse to actually speak. I've never seen that happen in this government, Mr. Speaker. Now we're hearing from the midwives that despite direction and funding from this democratically elected body, the health authority has been blocking the hiring of those positions and not living up to the intent of a full midwifery program.
Mr. Speaker, once again, when faced with the reasoning coming out of senior management and coming out of the Minister's office, or the actual midwives who work there, who are once again going around a bureaucratic hierarchical communications policy and risking their jobs, I'm going to trust the people who took the risk to get the truth out. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services about what the actual facts are and what we are going to do. Because if we're going to solve this problem and we're not going to allow this to become a larger systemic problem, of which we know there are many in our health system, we need to make sure all of the facts are out and that people in those jobs feel safe communicating to the public what is actually happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.