Sandy Lee

The Member has been here for three and a half years. She knows how we get resources. It’s through the business plan process. All the departments and programs make business cases. There are unmet needs, yes, in Yellowknife, but there are unmet needs in every community. We have lots of people in our communities who could benefit from having supported living that are being taken care of by families and friends and communities. I have met them in every community in the Territory. So one of the ways we are doing that under Foundation for Change is including home care programming. Respite care is...

We’ll be floating this money into the authorities to work at the community level.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are aware of the work that was done in the Yukon. The review we are doing is in a similar vein. The same group has done a review of similar programs in B.C. and Alberta. We are doing that and we will get recommendations and action items out of that and work with the committee on that in the spring. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s no question that our Northern Nursing Program is a success story. We have produced a lot of excellent graduates and the last fiscal year we were able to place all 11 of them; nine of them in Yellowknife and two in Hay River. So, Mr. Speaker, I’m confident that we will be able to use the training that these nurses have received in various communities and health centres and hospitals around the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will get back to the Member on that specific point, but the Member knows already because we have had many communications between the two of us that we have programs available and we do provide assistance to those residents in the Territories who need support in living situations due to their disabilities. Thank you.

No, we can’t say that we are substantially increasing the funding for suicide prevention.

I’m not sure what $1 million he’s referring to, but I can tell the Member that there are different types of respite care programs that the Department of Health and Social Services is involved in. There are respite care and long-term care facilities in our health facilities and in institutional settings as well as a respite program that we are trying to expand in the Territories. As the Member is aware, in Yellowknife we had a pilot program with an NGO two or three years ago, but we saw the need to expand that program to outside of Yellowknife and we have allocated, under Strategic Initiatives...

Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t be the responsible Minister, or the Member would be responsible if we were to make decisions without having at least some information about what it is we are being asked to take a position on. I am interested in getting the information from him as to what he has in mind, understanding that different ideas about overarching or comprehensive sorts of models on seniors was introduced before. I think we are also aware, though, that seniors’ issues, whether it be housing, fuel subsidy, health benefits, touch so many different departments that I don’t know if it is just...

Mr. Speaker, I have to admit I am unclear about exactly what he is getting at. Mr. Speaker, I said earlier that we placed 11 nurses out of the Nursing Grad Program last year. Nine of them are in Stanton and two in Hay River. I think the Member is aware because his background is in HR, and especially in Health that different nurses have different requirements and where it is necessary, we work as an employer to match training and employment situations. Mr. Speaker, I think I need more information on exactly what he is getting at. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I don’t know how to be brief, so I am going to ask the deputy minister to give more detail, briefly. Thank you.