{"id":262187,"date":"2025-11-05T00:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T00:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/262187\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T00:20:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T00:20:17","slug":"nwt-ministers-welcome-ottawas-proposed-northern-healthcare-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/262187\/","title":{"rendered":"NWT ministers welcome Ottawa\u2019s proposed northern healthcare review"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal budget presented on Tuesday by finance minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne promises a review of northern and Arctic healthcare. <\/p>\n

Budget documents noted that access to healthcare in the North and Arctic is limited by insufficient infrastructure, a shortage of workers and limited hospital access outside urban centres.<\/p>\n

As a result, the federal government said four ministers \u2013 of national defence, Indigenous services, northern affairs and Arctic affairs \u2013 will take on a \u201ccomprehensive assessment\u201d of healthcare and infrastructure needs in the North.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people must leave their communities to access specialized care or to give birth. These inequities are particularly persistent for Indigenous communities,\u201d Tuesday\u2019s budget documents stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, territorial governments face high costs to provide necessary care for their residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The goal of the new assessment, the budget noted, would be to engage with communities on ways to improve access to healthcare and reduce the cost of medical travel.<\/p>\n

The NWT government welcomed the review\u2019s inclusion in the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can trace that budget item back to a discussion that minister Wawzonek and I had in Ottawa,\u201d said Premier RJ Simpson at a press conference on Tuesday, referring to cabinet colleague Caroline Wawzonek. \u201cSo I do feel that the federal government has been responsive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had conversations with them about the amount of travel that someone has to do to access basic services. Whether that\u2019s travelling from Sachs Harbour to Yellowknife and then to Edmonton, or even just from Hay River to Yellowknife, it still takes time and it\u2019s still difficult for people with serious issues,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe reason they\u2019re interested in that is because of medical travel. They are responsible for the cost of medical travel for Indigenous people through Non-Insured Health Benefits, as well as their own employees, and they\u2019ve come to finally recognize that medical travel is expensive, and it\u2019s going to be cheaper for them to bring services closer to home into communities than it is to send thousands and tens of thousands of people across the country, year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any federal review that brings down the territory\u2019s share of medical travel costs could ultimately free up money for other programs, Simpson added.<\/p>\n

Defence spending could help<\/p>\n

At his own press conference on Tuesday, Champagne said some of the $81.8 billion earmarked for defence spending over the next five years could serve a dual purpose for military and civilians alike. He used the proposed healthcare assessment as an example.<\/p>\n

If Ottawa plans a military base in a community, he said, \u201cshould we not look at how there could be a clinic as well to serve the local community?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my point is that the defence investment is more than just hardware and software.\u201d<\/p>\n

No further details regarding the healthcare assessment were available on Tuesday. Whether it would be backed up by significant funding to act on the assessment\u2019s findings was not clear. (Healthcare is ordinarily a territorial responsibility. In the NWT, health accounts for about a third of the territory\u2019s annual operating budget.)<\/p>\n

Separately, the budget included $5 billion over three years\u00a0for a nationwide Health Infrastructure Fund to bolster existing healthcare cash provided to provinces and territories. <\/p>\n

That fund could be used toward infrastructure for hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care centres and medical schools.<\/p>\n

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More: Federal budget includes significant promises for the North<\/a><\/p>\n

The Liberal minority government\u2019s budget will need the help of at least one other political party to pass. A vote is expected on November 17.<\/p>\n

Should the budget be voted down, a new federal election would be triggered.<\/p>\n

Ollie Williams contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

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