I have been thinking about Avery Burke for two months. I have been thinking about my nieces and nephews when they were five or six years old, how fun and silly kids are at that age, how desperately heartbreaking it is to lose someone so young.

I have been thinking about this motion for weeks. The more I have heard from colleagues about the lack of basic health services in small communities, the more certain I am that this motion is the right thing to do.

In talking to my colleagues, I am so deeply saddened to hear of the challenges that the communities of the Nahendeh face, and since Avery passed, we have seen Wesley Marcellais and Hilary Norwegian pass away, causing great pain and loss to their families as well. Mr. Speaker, I want to put this motion into historical context.

Many years ago, before we were all here in this House, the Minister of health of the day came to speak to the community leadership in Fort Simpson, explaining that closure of the Fort Simpson Hospital was a good thing. The region and community would not see any impact on services if the hospital was turned into a health centre. The community was told that they would have two doctors and seven nurses, and the department had a medevac plan in place so those who became seriously ill or had an emergency would be sent to Yellowknife for urgent and emergency care. It would be all good. But it's not working.

In four of the Nahendeh communities, they don't have a health centre but a health cabin. The staff for these cabins, community health representatives, work about four hours a day. Health cabins are also scheduled to have a nurse or sometimes a doctor visit once a month if the weather cooperates for flights. If the weather does not cooperate, communities can go months without seeing a nurse.

Mr. Speaker, these communities do not have the same basic services that other NWT communities have. We have been talking about the equity of health services a lot so far in this year. I hear and believe that the Minister of Health and Social Services when she says that this is priority for the smaller communities. But systemic change is difficult. Access to medical services in Canada should be a basic right but it doesn't seem like that's where we're at, and these problems are most acute in our smallest communities.

Why are we making this particular motion? Well, the communities and families of those who passed want this issue to be finally addressed once and for all. These three individuals did not have to pass away. If the system worked properly, we would not have these highly preventible deaths. These communities feel that this system does not care for them. They feel that they are not important. They simply want access to appropriate care and to be taken seriously in times of an emergency.

I know that the Minister might say that they are following procedures, but I also know that there are examples that Members can point to that all too similar to these circumstances that we were facing in the first two months of 2025 that are addressed in this motion. Our procedures and our system continue to perpetuate the lack of equitable, accessible care. Mr. Speaker, I will have further comments to close off this motion at the appropriate time.