Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off, I want to thank union firefighter Chris Bittrolff for initiating this initiative, I guess I'll say it that way, by bringing it to my colleague from Range Lake. Once that dialogue got started, you know, it was easy to understand how important this particular initiative is. We tend to forget and just maybe sometimes take certain industries for granted. And it's no one's fault, which is you always know they'll be there when you need them, but sometimes we have to ask ourselves are we there when they need us. So, you know, as we hear the fire or the alarms or the sirens go by, you know, take that moment to pause for a second and say, you know, is there ways that we could be there for folks who are the first responders.
Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, first responders, that is a calling. I mean, I wish I could rise to that type of level. I acknowledge and say, tip my hat, to anyone who does. It is a demanding career. And I find it interesting where people join the career when they're young or join when they're late because they've always had the passion to do so, and I admire people who step up for something. Because the excess of challenges they face, the demands they face through any call, they know that these calls aren't literally struggling over a paper cut. These are calls that could go badly, terribly, and beyond, and then they have compounding affects that last not days, not weeks, months, years. And so this is an industry that people knowingly go into these careers, and I admire their strengths to do so, that they step up and face.
So when they're faced with challenges such as cancers beyond the current list or the concerns of PTSD, we have to ask ourselves what are we doing for them?. Again, they're there for us when we need them. The hesitation is not there. They fully throw themselves committed to the cause to be there. So we should be there to close the gap by helping enabling better coverage and step away from prescriptive coverage.
Now, the public may not appreciate what prescriptive coverage is, Mr. Speaker. And I'll just basically say the old method is, or technically the current method is, if it's on the list it's covered. But if it's not on the list, it's not covered. And that's where the burden starts.
Where do we want our friends or family members or community heros, our first responders, fighting? We want them fighting for us, and I want to be fighting for them. And I know everybody in this House wants to be fighting for them. So by shifting to enabling coverage means we allow people to put their energies. You know, God forbid, we've already heard about potentially one person, there may be more, who are struggling with cancer. I don't want their energy devoted to filling out forms, reading those, going to get another doctor saying another review. Is it covered? Can we link it? Like, it spends enormous amount of energy when you're faced with that Sisyphean task about trying to reach that point of finally someone saying yes. And sometimes people struggle, and the struggle takes over before the result and it comes too late. And for those, that's why this coverage means a lot. That's why it means a lot to my colleague from Range Lake. We work together with our colleague from Tu Nedhe because it matters both in Yellowknife, the regions, and the communities, such as our good colleagues.
This is drawing attention to sometimes a topic we don't want to talk about, but we should never be afraid of asking the question how can we support these people and our community that support us in a stronger way? We need to draw these types of attention. Sometimes they're uncomfortable conversations. Our gallery today, Mr. Speaker, is proof that this -- this bill means something to them. This is not getting them nicer t-shirts or a better wax on the fire truck, Mr. Speaker. This will change their lives. It may just mean emotionally which means they know we're here for them. But for those few, unfortunate few, that need this extra coverage, this will change their lives to the fact that proves that the system is working for them.
I won't wade in the conversation about how frustrating insurance can be. I mean, I'm sure that's not news to anybody in this building or anyone listening. But the fact is that we can do something here today, and we can demonstrate to this community of first responders that we will turn every stone over to ensure that they know they're appreciated, respected, and hopefully covered by the end of this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.