A newborn baby died 2 weeks ago in Northwestern Ontario — a rare event in a first-world healthcare system.

A woman, pregnant and bleeding, needed emergency surgery. The situation was so dire that her baby died on the way to the hospital. The clock on her life was ticking. The city's one and only anesthetist was away. Frantic calls were made until a Doctor came out of retirement to save her life -- but not her newborn baby.

The exact location of this tragedy doesn't matter -- Fort Frances, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Kenora, Atikokan, certainly any First Nations reserve. All of Northwestern Ontario has been under-serviced for years.