Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was listening to the radio and there was a report on and there was a representative from the Yellowknife Health and Social Services who indicated that, basically, they’re offering families who need respite an opportunity to enter into a voluntary service agreement, a VSA. To me, this is an acknowledgement that respite services are needed here in the Northwest Territories. Even indirectly, Yellowknife Health and Social Services is recognizing that respite is required. Unfortunately, I don’t believe in any way, shape or form, requiring a family to enter into a VSA...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some constituents of the Great Slave riding: Heather Oliver who is a constituency assistant for Dennis Bevington, the MP for Western Arctic; John Williston, Peggy Moorhouse, Shawna Stange-Brown, and Elizabeth Purchase. There’s been a lot of turnover in the gallery, so if I missed anybody from the Great Slave riding, welcome, and enjoy the Legislature today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their words. Clearly, respite services are important to the Members of this House. We need to continue to provide respite. I agree with the Minister; there are huge financial challenges, but we are talking about a couple of hours a week for these families. What is the cost of a program like this when you factor in what it is costing for somebody like Yellowknife Association for Community Living to deliver those two or three hours as opposed to having the families work with other institutions like our hospitals, where I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Whereas the Department of Health and Social Services and the regional health and social services authorities currently provide respite care services;

AND WHEREAS respite care services support the goal of keeping families together by relieving stress on primary caregivers;

AND WHEREAS the cost of these respite care services is much less than the cost of institutional care for disabled children and adults;

AND WHEREAS without respite care services some of these individuals with disabilities might become institutionalized and the responsibility of the Department of Health...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, November 5, 2010, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories commit permanent funding for respite care services across the Northwest Territories before the cancellation of any existing services.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to present a petition dealing with the matter of respite services in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 1,255 handwritten signatures and 552 electronic signatures. Of those, 1,756 signatories identified themselves as residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that the Government of the Northwest Territories commit permanent funding for respite services across the Northwest Territories before the cancellation of any existing services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sounds great. I’m happy to hear a resolution is in the works, but I obviously don’t know the details of that resolution that’s in the works. Does that mean that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living will continue to receive the $250,000 that they need in 2011-12 and ongoing to run the respite care program here in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services in follow up on my Member’s statement.

I know the Minister is supportive of respite. Her message in the House has been clear, both as a Regular Member and as a Minister. The Foundation for Change is clear: we plan to expand respite services in the Northwest Territories. But then in early October we were sort of surprised, out in left field, when all of a sudden we learned that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living respite program is being discontinued.

I’m curious; can the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be talking about respite services today as well.

Respite services are an incredibly valuable program through the Northwest Territories. Parents who are asking for respite help are not asking because they are incapable of caring for their children, but because while caring so much for their children, they are challenged to care for themselves.

This Assembly and previous Assemblies, the 14th and 15th, have acknowledged the importance of respite. So much so that in March 2005, the current Minister, while she was a Member, made a statement, and I quote directly from the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be quick. We’ve heard an awful lot today about the value of respite services. These services offer the families an opportunity to care for their children, and rest, and get their children socialized into society.

I attended a Yellowknife Association for Community Living meeting shortly after it came down that the program in Yellowknife had been cancelled. I was pleased at that meeting that I had the opportunity to listen to a young man with autism stand up and speak about how valuable this program is to him. At that time, he stood up and said respite workers helped...