Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During this Assembly and the 19th Assembly, Regular Members have been highlighting the need for fertility treatment supports for NWT residents. In the 19th, the idea of adding fertility treatments as an insured service was flatly denied. I have asked about this particular decision on insured services on the floor and done research behind the scenes. I have brought forward a petition with 368 signatures asking for the GNWT to investigate increased demand for fertility treatments and a tax credit to individuals pursuing those treatments. I've asked the Minister of Finance about why the GNWT doesn't offer these supports for their employees. And earlier this week, I tabled a jurisdictional scan of fertility supports offered by public governments across Canada.
Ultimately, the decision on insured services rests with the health Minister and her department. I recognize that the NWT health system is under fiscal strain, and so I am looking to find solutions that are fiscally prudent but still offer residents who are seeking fertility treatments some form of support.
The thing that baffles me most, Mr. Speaker, is the lack of data on how many residents need that support. I know there are many diagnoses that patients can get that explain their infertility, and tracking every single one in granular detail is not where I see the need. What we should be doing is tracking voluntary data from residents who are trying to conceive and cannot. Right now, it's word of mouth.
Advocates and residents come and speak to me about myriad reasons why the GNWT should support folks trying to start a family. Some of these reasons include preservation of fertility when you have a cancer diagnosis. Sometimes, a person with a uterus wants to start a family and finds out that they are struggling with fertility problems as well as finding donor sperm. I don't think the reason is key to track but rather the demand. Voluntary data can and should be collected from patients struggling to conceive for over a year so that the health system can make informed choices about fiscally prudent supports.
In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the Minister look to the Yukon, as my colleague from Frame Lake has suggested previously, and support our residents in medical travel as interventions for fertility take place only south of 60. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.