Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The funding to actually run the Avens for their O and M comes primarily from the Government of the Northwest Territories. We provide about $3.6 million per year for O and M to run the Avens facility as well as about $3.4 million for the Dementia Facility. If we move forward with the expansion together with Avens, we are also going to likely be on the hook for the additional $3.6 million to run that facility. If this facility gets built, it’s fair to assume that northern residents will be utilizing that facility.

Nobody approached me as an MLA, Bob.

---Interjection

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been working closely with Avens on their desire to increase their facility as well as improve the current facility. We have put together a committed team, a steering committee that consists of the Department of Health and Social Services employees as well as some proponents from Avens itself, and we have contributed $25,000 to this initiative, to Avens, so that they can have their individual participate.

We are doing a number of things, exploring opportunities for funding and trying to come up with the most appropriate way to move forward with the construction of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With respect to telehealth and a lot of the other eHealth or e-social services systems that we’re working on, there are a number of things in place and we continue to move forward with a number of initiatives. In this budget you’ll see some money for CFSIS, which is the upgrade of the Child and Family Services Information System which, no doubt the Member knows and we all know, has to be done. It is a critical piece of technical infrastructure that we need to get up and running in a useable way. Not just there but it has to be useable and functional for our staff. It is a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are committed to ensuring that our seniors have the beds and the supports that they need in the Northwest Territories. I hear the Member saying that we’re not doing anything, and obviously, she knows I disagree. Today the Housing Corporation has in their budget money to move forward on five independent living homes in the Northwest Territories. That’s new projects and new things that are being done by the Government of the Northwest Territories. We also know that every public housing unit is available to seniors if they qualify and if they wish to use them. We are...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to just mention, but to be clear, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a project in Simpson with the electrical, mechanical and other issues and some more concerns around infection control and stuff like that and the fact that standards have increased so much since that building was originally built. We still believe that Simpson has to be a priority.

At the same time, the Member has brought up concerns about the health stations that exist, the health cabins/health stations. I’m going to refer to them as health stations. We have two that the Member has addressed. One...

As we move forward with our…(inaudible)…communities what we’re hoping to do is actually enhance services for individuals so that they could stay in their homes. I’ve travelled throughout the Northwest Territories and talked to people in almost every community, actually in every community, including Yellowknife, and what I’ve heard is people want to be able to stay in their homes, in their communities, in their regions for as long as they possibly can. Moving forward, that is part of our priority, but we also know, in time, individuals, even if they want to stay in their own homes, may...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like just a touch of clarity. Health stations and health centres are different things. Is the Member referring to the health station?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me today on my right is Perry Heath, director of infrastructure planning; and Debbie DeLancey, our deputy minister.

We are committed to working with Avens. We will continue to work with Avens. We’re waiting for them to come forward in this collaborative team, this steering committee, to come forward with a plan and a suggestion on how we should move forward. We don’t know that that’s going to be full-on GNWT capital or whether there are going to be some other opportunities. We’re exploring all of those opportunities at this time, and obviously, we’d like to see some partners come in on this.

At the same time, this report, this work that the committee is doing will come to us shortly. But the Member knows...