Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right. When it comes to some of the program space and the technical requirements to meet things like code and program design and infection control, those are things that I think do need to be done by the experts who are aware of those codes and those standards that we have to apply on all health stations. When it comes to getting input into some of the components the Member is referring to, some of the cultural components and maybe some of the aesthetics of the building, we really do rely on the regional wellness councils to provide us with advice and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on page 5 what you see is basically a summary of previous years' projects that carry over in to multiple years that have already been approved by this Assembly, plus proposed projects for this fiscal year or 2018 fiscal year and the results of those projects moving forward.

It certainly doesn't include everything in our capital plan. For instance, if you look in this capital plan, in Inuvik you'll see one sum of money that we plan to use for our planning study this year because we have to do some permafrost tests, we have to do some site determination that will...

Mr. Speaker, there's still a discussion ongoing around that. There are some potential partners who have indicated they would like to follow an Avens-type model in Hay River, so it could be something like Avens, but we haven't made that final conclusion or decision.

It could be the Hay River Authority; it may not be. I think there's a lot of interest in the community on doing things a little different, being a little creative about how we actually provide those services to the residents of the community as well as South Slave, and we're open to all possibilities at this point in time.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Basically, yes. I mean, as we build new facilities like the one we built in Fort Resolution and the one we built in Fort Providence, those ones have more capacity. Our old buildings don't, and we aren't planning to make any major renovations to existing facilities to include those services, but maybe for more detail I'll go to Mr. Heath.

Mr. Speaker, it's a holistic plan focused on helping residents stay in their communities and their homes for as long as possible. That's at the very smallest community to the largest centre. If we have individuals in Yellowknife who want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, this plan is to help support them stay there. If we have residents in some of our smallest communities like Colville Lake or Tsiigehtchic, this plan is intended to help those elders stay in their communities and the regions for as long as possible, until it's not safe for them to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Absolutely. I mean, this is consensus government. We are open and willing and excited to work together, so absolutely.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about the Continuing Care Action Plan. It is a priority of this government to help our elders and our seniors age in place or as close to their homes as possible. There are a number of activities that we are pursuing to provide supports to elders as they age so that they can stay in their homes. If they are unable to stay in their homes for safety situations or concerns, we are hoping to be able to support them through the Housing Corporation and other partners in independent living units in many of our communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

One of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Jean Marie health station is a future priority. It is not actually contained in this capital project or this capital budget. However, as we were with Sambaa K’e and it did not work out, we are certainly open to other methods of procurement, including the possibility of the community owning the building and then leasing it back to us. Our current relationship in the community is they own the building, we rent the building. We are open to that, but we would certainly need a building built to certain specifications and standards to meet the needs of our health...

Mr. Speaker, many times in this House I have indicated that, once we get a sobering centre up and running, what I have indicated previously is that we will need about a year to get it up, running, make sure the program is running effectively before we actually move forward with the concept of a managed alcohol program. We have not been up and running yet. As soon as we are up and running for awhile, we will see how things are going. We will make necessary tweaks to make sure that the programming is effective and efficient. We are definitely open to exploring the possibilities of a managed...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No big announcement from the Minister, other than I will live up to the commitment that I already made to the Member in the House, which is we will explore every avenue to see what, if anything, we can do to provide those supports. Once again, the Member did raise a significant number of liability issues. That is clearly a concern, and that will be considered as we look at this.