Glen Abernethy

Yes, Avens and YACCS do receive funding, and they are providing services on behalf of the GNWT. As a result, they are limited in what they can charge and they must apply the long-term care fee, which is basically monthly accommodation to cover meals and accommodation. Currently that rate is $752. That is something that anybody interested in starting a private business would have to consider, because that may not be a sustainable business plan if they took in GNWT residents and were expecting us to pay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s certainly an interesting idea and anybody who’s interested in coming north or currently in the North who’s interested in opening their own supported living facility would obviously be great. There are no impediments to a private corporation or business opening an old folks home or long-term care centre in the Northwest Territories, but any private corporation would obviously want to do some research in advance and find out what building codes or other things might need to be in pace for a multi-person dwelling, but as far as Health and Social Services, there are no...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to all the Members for their comments and thoughts.

There are a number of areas that the Members brought up that there was some clear cross-over. So I’ll attempt to address as many of the questions as I can with my comments and if I do miss any, please remind me in detail and I’ll make sure to answer them at that time.

MLA Dolynny started off talking about some of the challenges and indicating that there’s room for improvement and, quite frankly, I agree, absolutely. We need to have a system focused on better health, better care and a better future for all of...

I’m not actually 100 percent sure. I believe it’s changes to legislation, but I will confirm that for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we look at the ISDM with respect to the mix of staff that’s available in small communities, we will look at all options and we will consider all opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d certainly like the Member to share the details with me so we can make sure that that doesn’t happen again. That isn’t consistent with my understanding. If it was prior to 7:00 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m. they wouldn’t have got a response to their call. As of March 1st we will be going to 24 hours. But with respect to this particular situation, I’d certainly like the Member to come to me and we can sit down and discuss it and see if we can make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

There hasn’t been what I would call or consider a fully comprehensive review, but it has been tweaked over time and will continue to be so. We will continue to do that in order to meet the needs of our residents.

I hear the Member, I hear all the Members. We need to do more to improve our services in those communities. I am willing to work with committee, Members and communities to find solutions that work, recognizing that not all communities are the same and not all solutions are going to be the same. We are going to review the ISDM with respect to the matrix or mix of staff that’s available...

Actually, interestingly enough, we had actually just approved the communications plan on this today and I was going to share all this information with the Members before I heard the Member make his statement today. We do have a communications plan. We are going to share that. That will likely be to Members today, and that includes communicating this information to the public.

Just for the record, anyone requiring support for themselves or for their loved ones can call the NWT Helpline at 1-800-661-0844, and it has been operational since February 1st, and it operates from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m...

That’s an interesting question and interesting concept. One of the things we are doing is the Seniors’ Handbook, that I already mentioned, that identifies the different types of programs. That is distributed to seniors in the territory and they have access to it through their local and territorial seniors’ societies. But with respect to any other push-type activity, I will talk to the department to see what we have and I will get back to the Member.

Mr. Speaker, a needs forecast for the entire Northwest Territories is going to help inform the Aging in Place Strategy. I will get back to the Member with that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.