(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to be back here. I would like to make a statement of concern to the residents of the Northwest Territories. There are many hunters, business people and unemployed people who get into accidents and have lost their limbs. Presently, there are a lot of these people in the North. These people have to go south to get fitted for artificial limbs. Artificial limbs take a long time to get used to, even if you have been wearing them for some time. They are not a normal part of the body. Once you get used to wearing them, they begin to wear out and have to be replaced again. Perhaps people with artificial limbs have to go through replacement of limbs a number of times during their lifetimes.
I think it is time for the NWT to get its own facility to produce and fit artificial limbs. Money is going to southern institutions for this kind of work, and people in the North have to wait a long time to have their limbs made or replaced when needed. People do not ask to get their limbs replaced even when they need to because they know that they need to make a trip to a southern institution to get fitted again. When they do get a replacement, oftentimes it does not fit.
I know about this personally because I have not utilized the artificial foot I obtained. You have to go south to get fitted, and they send it north, but when it does not fit, it is a real problem.