Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I hear the Member, and I'm -- you know, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and her community and, you know, her constituents. You know, this is -- these decisions and some of the things with medical travel and this is why there's -- this is the hard part of this, you know, is that there's only so much money in the territory, and we want to do everything for everybody. But we as a government can't operate on single individual cases case by case. You know, and I hear the Member and I understand the concerns. You know, there's -- but at this time, that's why we've committed to reviewing the entire -- you know, the medical travel policy as a whole to see how we are running this program. You know, and I hear the Members, and everybody wants -- you know, we want to have services provided for free to all our Members. We want to have services that, you know, anywhere else in Canada that you are paying for free in the territory because of the cost of living. But in order to be able to provide all of those services, we have to pay for those services and so, you know, we have to pick areas where we can support people to travel for their medical appointments. We have to pick, you know, and then so when we have extended health benefits, we've got people wanting to go out for treatment, you know, and there's so many needs that our territory needs and, you know -- and unfortunately, where we are is we -- I mean, I'm sure health could have -- I could ask the Minister to give me $1.2 billion, double my budget, to provide everything that -- you know, and even that wouldn't be enough. And, you know, so -- and so I'm really -- you know, I'm really -- I'm sad to, you know, hear what the Member's -- you know, what she's had to say, but unfortunately, this is why we have -- we're doing these reviews and we're looking at ways to try and come up with ways to pay for certain things that people of the Northwest Territories needs, and we have to prioritize. And I get Members don't agree with sometimes the way that we're prioritizing. And thank you, Mr. Chair.
Lesa Semmler on Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on June 4th, 2024. See this statement in context.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
June 4th, 2024
Page 691
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