Sandy Lee

My understanding is that building will come down and the new building will be built on that site to replace it. That existing building has flooring problems or roofing problems and where using the same site.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is an item in the budget, in the capital estimates for Stanton, eight hundred and some thousand dollars to do a planning study. I’d like to ask the deputy minister, who is also the public administrator, to give the Members an update on the work that we’re doing with respect to Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have the numbers on me right now, but some of them were ready before division. It’s not huge in numbers, but we have a few. So I will get back to the Member on the numbers. Thank you.

Yes, I will, Mr. Chairman.

My understanding is that the long-term care facility is an NWT Housing Corporation asset. I think the Member might be referring to the health centre which we have a lease arrangement with. That’s separate from this project. Any future arrangements that might come to play would be something that would be done by DPW.

Thank you. As the DM mentioned earlier, we have reviewed every health facility in the Territories in the last year. Many of our facilities are over 30 years old and I can advise the Member that Fort Resolution is one of the ones that needs major renovations. As well, Lutselk'e is one that needs to be looked at in short order. It will be part of the next cycle of planning studies going through the process in the next two or three fiscal years. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, all that work will have to be done when legislation is drafted, and in most circumstances in drafting legislation that governs professions, whether it be… I mean, we’ve had recent examples of social workers, but I remember NWT doing one for the architects and engineers. It’s a normal practice to look at what other jurisdictions are doing and to update the legislation and bring any new precedents that we should be considering.

So, in drafting new legislation, that will be done. Mr. Speaker, that would be a normal practice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I could get that information, because every facility I go to there are many, many aboriginal people that work in these long-term care facilities in the Territories. I also need to add home care, because that’s what I’m talking about. Home care jobs are good jobs and they are jobs that our local people can take on. Home care has many aspects to that profession. I will provide that information to the Member.

Mr. Chairman, I will do my best to answer questions. I will get back to her on all the documents I gave her. We gave a bunch of documents to the committee. There might be some breakdown in communication. Whatever she needs, whatever I have, whatever I can give her, I will give her.

In terms of long-term care facilities needs study, the Member knows that the department just finished looking at long-term care needs of the Territories for the next 20 years. We talked about the need to review that every five years. That was part of our discussion in the Standing Committee on P and P and Social...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Legislation for the professions that the Member mentions are in the line-up. The legislation for various health care professions have been lacking for a number of years, so we have had to update the Medical Professions Act, the Pharmacists Act, we’re just going through the Social Worker Profession Act. There are a number of professions that are more numerous in numbers that we have had to update, and the ones that the Member is talking about are in the pipe, so to speak, in the legislative writing line-up. There is a long list of legislation that needs to be updated...