Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along that same line, so what I'm hearing is that the work is to sort of monitor the seniors and, once a senior needs long-term care or gets to that level of care, they just move them into long-term care. My idea, and many other people's idea, on aging in place was to make it possible for them to remain in their home and get the services that they need so that they don't go into long-term care. My question is about what work is happening with Health and Social Services to allow the people to remain in their homes, not what work is happening with Health and Social...

In order to keep one senior in long-term care in the Northwest Territories on average it costs about $125,000. I'd like to ask the Minister if there will be an attempt to keep seniors in their own homes, not in the nine-plexes, in their own homes, to design a program that provides barrier-free access to homes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if he can look at ways to ensure that PYs are restored in the communities. If the fifth firefighter in these communities is actually still there and still working as a casual, then that must mean that there's a function for the individual. I'd like to know if the Minister can restore the PY, whether it be in forest management or other areas that may be of interest to the casual or other areas within ENR mandate or other areas within the GNWT mandate to ensure that those PYs are not lost. Because they're not filled with actual...

I didn't hear that very last part of the response. I'll continue on with my questions. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why positions were cut from small communities where seasonal and casual employees have no other options to find employment in the small communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ENR took steps to minimize the impacts of the change to crew configuration by offering more permanent jobs. When it comes to small communities, people are much more vulnerable in situations of job loss. Mr. Speaker, the loss of seasonal positions in Fort Resolution is unacceptable. The precedent it sets is a critical issue not only for my riding, for all small communities across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

A lot of opportunities are critical to our small communities, as is the case with many of my colleagues, and any community in my riding. One or two positions make a big difference. A single job loss has a ripple effect through families and will be noticed at school, the store, and the local RCMP detachment, for example. New jobs are few and far between. Like anywhere, job loss is a major disruption to a person's lifestyle. So, Mr. Speaker, I was not surprised when the chief of Fort Resolution was upset that ENR had reduced the number...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to continue to consider Tabled Document 50-18(2), Main Estimates, 2016-2017, and today we would like to continue with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and possibly Environment and Natural Resources. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister also indicated in their Member's statement that they were working with the Department of Health and Social Services. I would like to know what type of work is going on between NWT Housing Corporation and the Department of Health and Social Services to ensure that seniors are aging in place.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation questions about her Minister's statement today. I realize that the nine-plexes are something that's positive for the communities in which they're going to be built. They've been on the books for some time. When this government put aging in place as a mandate, my thought was that it was going to largely be for home ownership. I would like to ask the Minister which program will be used to target to the seniors to allow them to age in place in their own homes, in their own communities.