This news release is being distributed by the Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Members for Range Lake, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh and Yellowknife Centre
(YELLOWKNIFE) Thursday, May 8, 2025 – MLAs Robert Hawkins, Richard Edjericon, and Kieron Testart are calling on the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) to take responsibility and act immediately to address the healthcare crisis in the NWT.
“Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers have given us their diagnosis: our healthcare system is flatlining with no cure in sight,” said Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart. “We've been at this for a year, and Northerners can't wait any longer for real change that improves their access to the healthcare they need.”
These MLAs have been calling for major healthcare reforms since the 2023 election and reaffirm their commitment to improving care in response to the April 25 presentation by the NWT Medical Association titled Crisis in Care to the Standing Committee on Social Development.
Only 59 percent of NWT residents aged 18 and older reported having access to a regular healthcare provider in 2023, compared to the Canadian average of 84 percent. Since 2024, nine family doctors have left their practice in the NWT, resulting in a 49 percent vacancy rate, with a further 42 percent vacancy rate for specialists. The NWTMA reports that 63 percent of current physicians are considering leaving their practice in the NWT.
“We are in a state of healthcare emergency,” said Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre. “This crisis has been steadily worsening since the COVID-19 pandemic, and quite frankly, there’s zero excuse for the inaction we’re seeing from the people in charge.”
These MLAs are calling for immediate action from the GNWT to address the healthcare crisis, including:
- Establishing a ministerial working group composed of Cabinet and Regular Members to oversee primary care reform and health system sustainability.
- Moving to interest-based negotiations with the NWT Medical Association before fall 2025.
- Publicly releasing the details of the new locum contract for emergency department doctors.
- Improving flexibility in locum contracts to support physician retention and recruitment.
- Phasing out agency nurses by 2026.
- Strengthening collective bargaining practices for healthcare workers to ensure frontline voices are meaningfully heard in negotiations.
- Enhancing financial incentives for shift work for all healthcare workers.
- Implementing minimum staff-to-patient ratios at all NWT hospitals.
- Supporting practitioner-led innovation to drive continuous improvement on the front lines.
- Negotiating physician licence-sharing between Nunavut and Alberta to eliminate red tape and speed physician entry into the NWT healthcare system.
- Prioritizing pan-national physician licensing in the GNWT’s federal engagement strategy.
- Fast-tracking policies on emerging medical technologies such as AI, e-consults, and virtual care (e.g., robotic ultrasonography).
- Expanding the role of auxiliary care in hospitals and community health centres to integrate advanced care paramedics into emergency medicine.
In addition to these priorities, these MLAs are renewing their call to end the top-down leadership model at the NWT Health and Social Services Authority. They advocate for an operational model that empowers frontline workers and ensures they have meaningful input into decisions affecting their workplace.
“Frontline healthcare workers now feel as though they are mere cogs in a machine. Administrative engagement with their feedback has become a box-ticking exercise rather than a genuine process of consultation and collaboration,” said Mr. Testart.
These MLAs believe that while the Minister of Health and Social Services dissolved the NTHSSA Leadership Council and appointed a Public Administrator, that individual’s engagement with them has been inadequate. Months after the appointment, no significant actions have been taken to improve healthcare—nor has a clear plan been presented.
“Since the election, we have been raising the alarm on the healthcare crisis, and the only action the Minister has taken is to fire the Indigenous-led oversight board. That decision did not sit well with Dene people, and it certainly hasn’t improved healthcare in small communities. It’s time for this Minister to stop passing the buck. She must take her responsibilities seriously and hold her department’s leadership accountable,” said Richard Edjericon, MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh.
Mr. Hawkins added, “The Premier’s plan to find efficiencies and cut uninsured services is not going to solve this crisis. The answer is simple: pay our hardworking doctors and nurses competitive wages while implementing their recommendations to improve frontline care.”
These MLAs believe the Minister and Premier have failed to demonstrate adequate leadership in addressing the challenges facing the NWT healthcare system. They are prepared to support confidence motions if urgent steps are not taken to respond to the concerns of patients and the skilled professionals they rely on.
“If the Minister of Health and Social Services is unwilling to make these changes, then we are willing to change the Minister,” said Mr. Testart.
For further information, please contact:
Public Affairs and Communications
Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
@email