Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am hearing that patients are being more or less warehoused in waiting rooms in the hospital. They're spending days on stretchers in an overcrowded emergency department. Hospital continues to be on gridlock, meaning care is delayed, tensions run high, and safety risks multiply. What is the Minister doing to address gridlock at Stanton Territorial Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that this epp today, shockingly, I think, that this effort of this -- of this trade war is to weaken Canada's economy to make it easier for the Americans to annex us into the 51st State. These are very shocking comments. Has the Premier been able to speak to the Prime Minister and just get a sense of how real that threat it? The NWT is, of course, in the Arctic, and that's a prize for the Americans clearly. Is this -- how serious is this threat, and what are we doing to prepare for it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that commitment.

Mr. Speaker, another issue is the security at Stanton do not have the resources that they need to deal with situations like that. Is the Minister willing to review the security complement at the Stanton Territorial Hospital and ensure that they are properly resourced to deal with future violence at the ER?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services about the recent very serious situation that happened at Stanton Territorial Hospital. The code that was called was a code white which means everyone from each department attends on -- at the site, what actually led to increasing risk to safety of those people who did attend. Other hospitals have code silvers which means shelter in place, more or less. Can the Minister -- and these issues have been raised with hospital management. Can the Minister explain why we don't have a code silver in place...

Thank you. Okay, well, I mean, hopefully when we're discussing with our municipal partners, whether it's the city of Yellowknife, the First Nation, or any -- or Indigenous beneficiary group or whatever, a local authority, that we are involving more than just one Minister and one department. And I know that's the case. It's just I would like -- it would be nice if we saw a clear path forward. And I mean nice is an easy way to put it. I think it's required at this point. Like, the urgency here for housing, for example, has been well stated in this Assembly. The urgency to shore up our economy at...

Thank you. So I guess the intention -- I'm somewhat perplexed because I guess the intention of the policy -- what's being called for -- and I think my colleague, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, yes, was mentioning that, you know, let -- like, you transfer it to the municipality and then they decide what happens to it. And that's my intention -- or that's where my head goes to, because you want to give the municipalities or local authorities the flexibility to develop at their own pace and to make use of opportunities, whether that's selling land and making a profit of off it, whether it's...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 6th, 2025, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to develop and implement a compassionate medical evacuation policy for our emergency ground/air ambulance and highway rescue allowing for patients in critical conditions to be accompanied by non-medical escorts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mean, half a month your hospital's gridlocked, that's not a favourable statistic. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talked about providing support to regional health care and health care centres to release the pressure on Stanton. So how are these -- how have these efforts in regional centres had an effect on gridlock at Stanton? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm really appreciative of these comments and the Premier's leadership on this. Premier Ford today also said he would do absolutely everything to protect Ontarians and Canadians, tearing up contracts, putting surcharges on energy, barring critical minerals. Is the Premier willing to pay any price to protect Canada and the Northwest Territories' sovereignty? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today it's a fairly momentous day in the Canada-US trade relationship. Donald Trump has imposed his tariffs, and Canadians are reeling from the consequences. Markets are reeling from the consequences. And our future is increasingly uncertain. I know the Premier's been front and center with Team Canada on protecting our nation's interests and Northerner's interests. Can he provide an update to this House now that these tariffs are a reality. Thank you.