It would certainly be helpful if medical travel was fully funded and there was some consideration of the escort policy and whether it was a culturally safe escort policy. We get a lot of complaints from people coming from small communities who are not accustomed to travelling to places even the size of Yellowknife, which is a very small city, let alone to Edmonton and further south. They would like people to accompany them. Elders, especially, would like people to accompany them.
This kind of compassionate accompaniment is not considered in the benefits of NIHB. They consider whether you need interpretation, mobility assistance and so on, but not compassionate travel. I'm concerned that what we're offering is not really culturally appropriate to the population, and I would like to see some discussion around that as a change.
Thank you.