Thank you. Well, I hope it does because adding a shift without the doctors to fill it seems to be a problem here.

Mr. Speaker, are all the shifts, these four -- there's four shifts in the ER now. Are all the shifts currently scheduled covered through June to August of this year? Thank you.

Thank you. My apologies. It was in the Premier's sessional statement, but it is the responsibility of the Minister of Health and Social Services. Will she explain to the House how she codeveloped the ER plan with staff, doctors, nurses, everyone else who works to support the emergency department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Premier's sessional statement, he celebrated the new emergency room plan as being codeveloped, and yet I hear very different from the frontline. The Minister of Health and Social Services explained what went into the co-development. Was it sitting down with doctors, nurses, and other staff to figure out what it needs; like an interest-based negotiation and build a cohesive plan, or was it we listened to the presentations to the standing committee from the doctors and we implement their recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, the information comes to me from the parents, so can the Minister explain what counter information she received; what different evidence is before us? I just want to know. I think the parents want to know as well. This is very concerning for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the deadline for these kids to get on the bus is 3 p.m. today. Will the Minister have a resolution before that deadline? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our kids need access to sport, and this is yet another problem that's not being resolved by the Fort Simpson education system. Today I've been told that there are three Indigenous kids, one kid with disabilities, that are not allowed to go to the track and field meet because they need their school to sign off on their bus. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment has told the district education association that she was going to look into this decision. So what has she found? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to welcome our guests from the Auditor General's office, Mr. Jerry Demarco, Ms. Carey Agnew, and Ms. Emilie Anne Duval. It's great to have their assistance at the Standing Committee of Public Accounts. We had a wonderful meeting with them last night, and we look forward to seeing them again soon. Thank you. Thank you for being here.

Mr. Speaker, for many Northerners lacking access to a family doctor, the emergency room, once a last resort, has now become the only option for care. Month after month, I hear from constituents in Range Lake enduring six to ten-hour wait times for emergency room treatments that should be routine. How can we reasonably expect our doctors and nurses to provide safe and timely emergency care when their volume of patient overflows month after month thanks to gridlocks, cancellations, understaffing, alongside the alarming lack of access to primary care. Yet, year after year, the health and social services has failed to reflect these realities in its reports on statistics. Now the Minister suddenly insists that the ER will remain open by any means necessary, but so far her solutions amount to little more than adjusting shift schedules for a workforce already stretched to its limit without meaningful input from the professionals on the ground. If the Minister were to truly consult with frontline staff, she would hear unequivocally that Stanton requires at least a dozen more emergency physicians, yet currently, only two are in place. And it doesn't stop there.

The need is urgent for unit clerks, mental health nurses, care coordinators, social workers, lab assistants, and personnel to support elders and individuals struggling with addictions. When pressed on how she intends to reach appropriate staffing levels, the answer appears to be a revolving door of temporary workers, staff who must be constantly trained and oriented and who lack the necessary experience to respond to life threatening emergencies such as strokes or cardiac arrests.

This, Mr. Speaker, is not health care. This is chaos. And concerns about even further deterioration of our system are not hypothetical. They are the reality we've witnessed for far too long.

Last week, the Minister stood in a public forum and claimed that the Northwest Territories is the best place in Canada to get sick and seek treatment even as she admitted that residents cannot book a primary care appointment and, in many cases, can't even get someone to answer the phone. If the Minister cannot come before this chamber with a serious, credible plan, grounded in staff consultation, focused on real capacity building, then, Mr. Speaker, we may not have an emergency room at all this summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, May 26th, 2025, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the Government of the Northwest Territories take immediate action to improve the recruitment and retention of all doctors, nurses, and allied health care workers through higher wages, contract flexibility, and enhanced benefits;

And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the Public Service Alliance of Canada and Union of Northern Workers to develop an inclusive bargaining structure for all healthcare workers to give the frontline a real voice in negotiations;

And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake the following actions:

• Establish a working group composed of Members of the Executive Council and Regular Members of the Legislative Assembly to oversee primary care reform and health system sustainability initiatives;
• Move to interest-based negotiations with the Northwest Territories Medical Association before the fall of 2025;
• Publicly release the details of the new locum contract for emergency department doctors;
• Improve flexibility in locum contracts to assist doctor and nurse retention and recruitment;
• Phase out agency nurses with a three-year plan that improves working conditions for frontline staff with improved professional development and compensation;
• Enhance financial incentives for shift work for doctors, nurses, and allied health care workers;
• Implement minimum staff-to-patient ratios at all Northwest Territories hospitals;
• Implement practitioner-led innovation to ensure continuous improvement on the frontline;
• Negotiate physician license-sharing between Nunavut and Alberta to eliminate red tape preventing entry of new physicians into the Northwest Territories healthcare system;
• Prioritize pan-national physician licensing in the Government of the Northwest Territories federal engagement strategy;
• Fast-track development of new policies on emerging medical technologies, such as AI, e-consults and virtual care;
• Expand the role of nurse practitioners in all regions of the Northwest Territories to improve access to health care and decrease costs; and,
• Modernize auxiliary care and establish a licensing body for paramedics;

And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories release an action plan to implement the aforementioned actions that is time bound and fully costed by the fall of 2025;

And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories respond to this motion in 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.