Herbert Nakimayak

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about elders' healthcare. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is waiting for the results of a homecare review to help them decide how to allocate future resources. My question is: what is the status of this work, and when will the department be ready to act on the findings? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wanted to raise a few issues affecting elders' healthcare that have been brought to my attention by Nunakput residents.

The people of Nunakput are concerned that elders' healthcare in the region is not all it could be or even all it should be. In some cases, language is a barrier, and the lack of available translators makes it even harder, Mr. Speaker. In others, there are issues with homecare workers. Some Nunakput communities have no homecare workers, thanks to the cuts in the past that affected those positions. Elders are concerned that, without...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Last year, during the last November sitting, there was $100,000 from ITI to help Tuktoyaktuk with the current visitor centre that they have there now. I believe the department had allocated $100,000 to possibly look at upgrading the visitor centre that they currently have in Tuktoyaktuk right now. I don't know if that helps, but I could dig into e-mails quickly here and find out exactly what it is.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 211, the Northern Food Development Program, can I just have a little bit of information for that for this year, please? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. Looking at that, talking about fuel, fuel services and long-term plans, there's a lot of infrastructure up in the North that we don't see as civilians. There are radar sites and other types of infrastructure that need heating and need fuel for transportation. It might be worth something in the long run for MTS to think about that, and possibly take other contracts rather than just the territory on a much bigger, bigger scale as the Arctic opens. I just want to hear what the Minister has to say on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. That's a good response. On the next line, I know MTS, I gave the Minister a hard time last year on MTS, and I know it's not an easy undertaking to take over something like that, and it takes multiple departments to make it work good, and I commend the department for that, actually. I see that there's no funding for the next couple of years. Coming with that, the cost of fuel has risen up in our region. I'm just wondering if the Minister can shed some light on that, looking forward into 2019 and 2020 and the year after? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for that. Four lines down to energy, there seems to be an increase from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020. Could the Minister give a little bit of information on that, please? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for the invitation, as well. Mr. Speaker, pilots like that such the Minister spoke of could become something very useful across the territory, with the technology we have today. I have one more question about cultural safety, and the question is: how does the department's new action plan speak to regular engagement between the department and communities on new healthcare policies and initiatives? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is good to hear that from the Minister. The needs specifically for communities seem different in different regions. The department has been trying to improve homecare service for a couple of years now, including $2.5 million in the 2017-2018 budget. Can the Minister tell us whether all these findings were used and how they were used?

I am not trying to play favourites, or anything like that, but knowing that the new bill that is coming out from the federal government does not really give the federal government obligations to work with Indigenous peoples on a closer basis. Mr. Speaker, last year, the federal government under the current agreement for French-language service and Indigenous languages will be 2019-2020. Mr. Speaker, my question is: has the department started to plan for what it wants to achieve for future generations?