Alfred Moses

In terms of the medical equipment, it kind of goes to what my colleague Mr. Bouchard mentioned as well. We do get a lot of medical travel which has also been a topic of hot discussion in the House. Whether or not we can put some equipment into the regions, for instance, seeing what we might be able to get up in Inuvik. With the cost of travel and adding an escort on to that, the costs doubled bringing people down, whether it’s a first appointment of follow-up or checkup appointments. Maybe it’s a possibility to see what inventory we have in the communities and if we can start putting that type...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we come to an end in the 17th Legislative Assembly, would the Minister responsible ensure that this is a priority of the 18th Assembly? Would he commit that our seniors’ issues, such as elder abuse, housing and services in some of the small communities are a priority in the 18th Assembly so when the new government comes in, they can hit the road running and address some of the issues our elders are dealing with? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In terms of an action plan, I know there is a Seniors’ Handbook that’s out in the communities. Can I ask the Minister, is there an action plan for seniors? As he heard here today, there are housing issues and even issues in terms of long-term care facilities and beds. Is there an action plan for our senior population over the next five, the next 10 years? One of my colleagues mentioned the increased population, you know, five years from now, 11 years from now, even further down the road. Is there an action plan to address some of these issues moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome a constituent to the House today, Ms. Judy McLeod, and also thank her for all the work that she’s done with our Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services throughout the region. It’s very much appreciated.

I’m not sure if Hilda is still up there or not, but I want to recognize her and just say that I appreciated curling with her in all the government bonspiels over the years, and I just want to say thanks for her welcoming smile every time we walk down the halls to our meetings, especially for the out-of-town MLAs when they come here.

Also, Mr. Murray...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On June 24th to the 26th this past summer, I had the honour of sitting in a meeting with seniors from around the region that I attended and worked on a seniors meeting, entitled Working Together to Address Seniors Issues. It was a follow-up to a meeting that some of the stakeholders, some of the coordinators did when they came to Yellowknife and had a meeting with the NWT Seniors’ Society.

A lot of really good discussions happened during those three days, and we had seniors from Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Inuvik. They were bringing up issues that meant a...

Just to follow up, do we have the people who are qualified because of the new standards, who are trained, and do we have the adequate staff to use these in the communities? Thank you.

That is leading into my next question with the portable ultrasound machines in Inuvik, Simpson and Smith. It seems like it’s a very important piece of equipment in terms of detecting any kind of disease or disorders that can be life threatening.

Can the Minister tell me how many communities have these portable ultrasound machines and why we’re not getting them into more of the communities, especially the regional centres? On top of that, do we have people staffed and trained to operate these machines? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to make a couple of comments. In the past I’ve made comments about some medical equipment. I think I’ve asked questions and made some statements in the House about when this department purchases new equipment, they send a lot of patients down south for specialized care, specialized appointments or checkups. I am trying to remember back, but I think the Minister mentioned that they were already in the process of looking at how many appointments where we send people down south and the cost-effectiveness of it and whether or not there’s a trend for dialysis or...

My experience that I had at the meeting over the summer, just being in attendance – I wasn’t there for all the three days, but I sat in and listened to some of the discussions – and the passion and concern of these elders speaking up and not really having the confidence. Within government and other areas of leadership, something needs to be done so that with the Continuing Care Action Plan that the Minister is discussing, would he welcome some of the senior populations from the regions to sit in on the discussion of an action plan to help to address the real issues in the small communities and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just following up to my Member’s statement earlier, and there are some really good Ministers’ statements here as well. One was from Justice in terms of using an elder in some of our work that we’re going to be doing in the traditional healing and enlisting Aboriginal elders in the aspects of their cultures and traditions, focusing on traditional healing in the corrections facility. Also, when I mentioned that meeting that we had in Inuvik, we had discussions of the regional wellness councils, and elders who were there spoke up and said that they would really love to be...