Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, the Member's exactly right. I mean, this building doesn't address our future need; it simply keeps us at status quo in Hay River. We do know from the long-term care review that by 2026 we need 30 more beds on top of the ones we already have and will have with this new building in the community with respect to long-term care. More needs to be done; we're currently doing our review, our report, coming up with an action plan, how we can facilitate beds across the Northwest Territories by 2026.As it currently stands, there isn't significant room on the current Woodland Manor site...

Mr. Speaker, I do believe the community and the department already work together through the Aboriginal health and community wellness division on their wellness plan. We do have a significant amount of people working on the Cancer Strategy. What I will do, Mr. Speaker, is I will ask the Member through you to maybe work with the community to get in touch with us and have a conversation. I couldn't tell you the timeline because we have never been contacted to this degree in this nature. I think there is an opportunity here. I would say let's work together. If the Member can put us in touch, we...

Mr. Speaker, the evidence shows that one of the best ways to combat cancer is to prevent cancer, which is why we are focusing on healthy eating initiatives and encouraging people to get their exercise. We are doing this in partnership with a number of different groups. There is fantastic work being done by sports and recreation, Sport North, the Department of MACA, to encourage people to be active. ITI is doing a number of fantastic things with respect to supporting agriculture as an economy, but also supporting small local gardens. We have had a number of individuals apply for money through...

Mr. Speaker, as I already indicated there is a four-plex in the community for independent living for seniors in the community already which is supplied by the NWT Housing Corporation. When the Member made his statement, I had an opportunity to check with the Minister of Housing to see if there are any plans to put an independent living unit in the community or any additional independent living units. The Housing Corp is doing a needs survey across the Northwest Territories to determine where some of that need exists, at which point, I am certain they will get feedback from Ulukhaktok to help...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health and social services staff in the community health centre provide elders in Ulukhaktok with support and nursing services in accordance to their needs. There is one home support worker in the community, as well as a community health nurse dedicated to providing some home-care services. The authority has a temporary, community social services worker who will be transitioning into the community next week, which I think is fantastic news. The health staff are supported by teams of professionals in the Beaufort Delta as well. The seniors can get...

Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action highlighted the fact that there is a gap between the health status of Aboriginal people and the rest of Canadians. The recommendations call for all governments delivering health and social services to ensure that services are culturally appropriate and that service providers are culturally competent. The Department of Health and Social Services is committed to achieving that goal, and although we still have a lot of work to do we have made substantial progress led by the wise counsel and advice of a group of respected...

Mr. Speaker, I won't talk about my personal opinion here, but I can state that we actually do have that program available to us already for non-statutory jobs. We can actually go out and advertise on a geographically limited area for specific positions. By way of example, if we had a non-statutory position in Fort Res, we could actually run a competition within 35 kilometres of the community and limit it to just that zone, so that is a tool that is actually currently available to us. Some departments have used it. It is available to all departments, where appropriate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Regional Recruitment Program is actually being utilized throughout the Northwest Territories. I will commit to getting the House and the Member the exact numbers of uptake across the Northwest Territories. I can't say it is more successful in some regions than others. I believe we've only had one application in the Sahtu, meanwhile in South Slave we've had a number of applications. It is still being pushed; it is still something we believe will help make a significant difference in recruiting Northerners for northern work in those non-statutory...

Mr. Speaker, all the answers were in the Member's question. The Member has actually hit it on the head. That building costs us about $600,000 a year just to heat and provide electricity. On top of that, the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority does provide minor O and M. Public Works and Services is always monitoring the condition of that building. Should any catastrophic incidents happen in that building, a failure of the sprinkler system by way of example, as long as we're occupying, we would have to do that upgrade. The building was reviewed several times prior to the final...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time we haven't considered creating a seniors' advocate in the Government of the Northwest Territories. We are interested in working very closely with the different seniors' organizations to ensure that residents, seniors, have a streamlined process through using some of the existing mechanisms. We work with the different groups to develop things like the seniors' handbook which clearly outline many of the programs that are available to seniors across the Northwest Territories. As I've indicated, we will continue to work closely with those seniors'...