Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a standardized process in addressing complaints and concerns from our residents. They are to speak to the authority management first and then sometimes, or oftentimes it works its way through, upward to the deputy minister level. Mr. Speaker, if it is a complaint about specific conduct of a health care professional, whether it be a nurse or a doctor or therapist or allied health care professions, all of the professional governing bodies have a process on how to address complaints. Thank you.

As the Member knows, the authority communicated to YACL and said that this funding program was ending and they would like to work on a transition program and an exit strategy. They proposed to the association that we should work on doing an evaluation, which are all the things that the authority should be doing when a program is expiring. I have approached the association to see how we can work on this exit program and those kinds of discussions continue. The important point today is that we will continue to discuss with YACL on how we exit this Yellowknife program, because as a government we...

Absolutely. Institutional care is always more expensive, usually far away, it’s less humane and less personal. So in all ways, we should, as a government, minimize that. We do also accept, though, there are situations where there is no choice but to give institutional care for some of our elderly and some of our residents because their needs are so acute and so expansive that no individual or families can provide that. This is why we have under the Foundation for Change action plan as a goal to enhance and expand home care and respite care. Thank you.

Right now we have had, over the last number of years, two different care programs. We’ve had one in Yellowknife that the Member mentions and we have been running a pilot project outside of Yellowknife for smaller communities. The government would like to look at the whole program together, because the focus has to be in providing services to families who need the respite care program. I don’t think there is any question here about the importance, and advantage, and the benefit that those programs bring to the children and adults with disabilities and their families. I say it once again, that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t want to be rude, but the way this Member keeps interpreting what I am saying and me answering, it makes everything so confusing. I will just try to clarify this. As the Member knows, it is true we just went through the business plan process. There was a budget there for respite care. Yes, of course, I knew what was in there. The department knows what was in there. Like I said before, that money has nothing to do with YACL or respite care program for Yellowknife. I said that many times during the two weeks. That was money for respite care program for communities...

In situations like that, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, which is responsible for Tu Nedhe, would do an assessment on that individual and the family and provide either home care assistance, occupational therapy assistance, and work out a care plan for the family. Where there is a respite care program like Yellowknife, they could access those. But where there isn’t, home care and local health and social authorities would look to assist the family. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I’d like to thank the Members for Great Slave and Kam Lake for looking back in the record and reading statements that I made. I was, and I continue to be, an advocate for supporting persons with disabilities. I fought for and got the respite care program and I was grateful that the government implemented. As a Minister, I have worked to expand the respite program to communities outside of Yellowknife, and it is part of the Foundation for Change Action Plan.

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate that there were some communications that really caused heartache to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member knows that we just went through a preview of the business plan process for 2011-12. That is the normal process. We reviewed those with the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Mr. Speaker, I do admit that THAF and THSSI funding worked in a different process, because, as I said before, it is one large transfer from the federal government outside of the main budget, it had to come through supplementary appropriation.

With regard to going forward on this territorial respite care program, I would be happy to meet with the Members as soon as possible to discuss...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, on Monday I said that because, as the Member knows, the funding has sunsetted. It’s not in the books. It’s not there. THAF funding ended as of ’09-10.

We got extra money for two years for ’10-11 and ’11-12. We did planning for 2010-2011 through supplementary appropriation. The budget for 2011-12 has not been before this House. For the information of the public and everybody, when we go through the budgeting process, we work closely with the communities.

So, Mr. Speaker, I said what the Member said I said and those are accurate. The money has sunsetted. Thank you, Mr...

Mr. Speaker, I will undertake to do that. Thank you.