Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, we just recently renewed the contract for the day shelter in its current location. I have made a commitment to move the day shelter to a different location recognizing the public outcry against its current location but we had to renew the contract because we haven't actually been able to find another location. We're prepared to move it as soon as we find another more suitable location for the day shelter.

However, on top of that, we have also moved forward with expanding the hours; it's now a 12-hour a day from seven to seven. That should happen in the next couple of months, we're...

We haven't done too much in the way of getting that information out there at this point because we haven't actually had any budget approved indicating that we can actually, you know, conclude or move forward, and we haven't got a fully formulated plan on putting in long-term care or any of those types of things in that facility, and we're working on a development of a plan to accommodate 258 beds in the Northwest Territories and we're pursuing lots of different options and research that'll allow us to support the 250 beds across the Northwest Territories. It's many pieces of the puzzle until...

Mr. Speaker, in the design, we're looking at both options, and we haven't yet come to a conclusion, but we are exploring, basically, all the options to move this initiative forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the old Stanton facility will be managed by Venture, I believe is the name of the company, as part of the P3 Project. They're the property manager. They are ultimately the ones who get to decide what they're going to put and what they're not going to put in that facility. We have sought permission from FMB and we're seeking permission from the Members today to re-profile some of the extended care dollars and pursue an opportunity to put the 18 extended beds that we were going to build in the old building.

So we can to make a case to Venture that that would be a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a government, we are committed to addressing the issues of homelessness and recognizing that homelessness is a very complex situation caused by many factors. Health and Social Services is committed to working on the items in the action plan that have been identified as a Health and Social Services responsibility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just for clarity, have we finished the administrative and support services section, because all the questions seem to be related to community health programs?

Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue, not just in the Northwest Territories, but across Canada. We have made dollars available to the NWT Seniors' Society, who I do have to applaud for the amazing work that they have done on creating programs and awareness around elder abuse here in the Northwest Territories. We have made technical staff available to them, as they need, to help with information, but they have really taken the lead on the development of this. We do what we can to help promote it and to get that information out there.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm completely aware that this is a regional health centre, and I recognize without question the value in moving forward with this facility.

The Member has suggested maybe Stanton bumped this facility. I do have to point out that Stanton facility has been in discussions and negotiations for well over ten years, probably approaching 12 years. The first time that we had a conversation about the Fort Simpson is when we did some initial assessment on the pilings, which proved to be wrong, as a point, which was about 2012, so it's only been in the works for a couple...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the federal election, there was an indication that there would be money allocated to provinces and territories by the federal government, about $3.9 billion over a four-year period. We don't actually know how they plan to distribute those dollars or what the criteria is for utilizing those dollars are. If past predicts future, and they use the same types of formula as they have in the past, which is often population-based, we could get as much as $3.6 million over the four years, which works out to just over $900,000 a year.

We, and all the other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since we last discussed this topic in the House I have been provided with some additional updated information. It's my understanding that Public Works and Services will be taking possession of that building in the winter as opposed to the fall.

They will be, at that point, commissioning, doing some necessary commissioning, bringing in health-related equipment, and we are looking at moving into that building late summer next year. So it's a little further away that I had originally indicated. I appreciate Public Works and Health for providing me that...