Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounds like a fairly bureaucratic process and rather long and involved to simply get a family some assistance to deal with the stress that they are under from day to day.

Is this a dedicated person who is providing respite through home care? If not, when are we going to get dedicated personnel in our communities to assist families with the respite care they need? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I know that there are some respite care programs outside of Yellowknife. There are three communities which have respite care for some of their residents there, but as I mentioned in my statement, there is an overwhelming need for respite care in the other 29 communities that aren’t yet served by any kind of respite care. I would like to know from the Minister when is the department going to recognize… I think they recognize that there is a need, but when are they going to recognize it as an overwhelming need? When are they going to start providing services in our other...

There is an overwhelming need for respite care in our territory. When will the Health and Social Services department roll out the territorial respite implementation plan?

I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to thank the mover and the seconder of the motion for bringing it forward, Mr. Bromley and Mr. Yakeleya. You’ve heard already, and we’re going to hear again, that this is a controversial motion. We’ve already had great debate at committee about it and I think it was a very healthy debate. I appreciate the comments I’ve heard from committee and I appreciate the comments I’ve heard today.

In listening to my colleagues, I get the impression that they think we are debating a federal bill. That’s not what we are doing, Mr. Speaker. We are debating the effects of...

I’m still struggling to get a year out of the Minister. If the Minister wants us to indicate to him that respite care is an important priority, then I’m certainly sure that the standing committee can do that for him. I asked where it sits in the priorities for the department, and I don’t think I really heard an answer.

Again, I would like to know from the Minister… He says that there are no new initiatives. This plan is already in progress. I don’t think it’s a new initiative to expand a plan, but I’d like to hear from the Minister, if that’s the government stance, that an expansion of any plan...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask a few more questions of the Minister for Health and Social Services. I would like to follow up on some of my previous questions.

My first question was, we have established a territorial respite care plan, from what I understand, and I asked the Minister for an update, but now I’m asking when that plan is going to be rolled out.

I thank the Minister. I don’t think I heard of this opportunity for families to access respite care through home care.

Can the Minister provide a bit better explanation to me and to people listening? What would a family get by applying through home care? What kind of service is provided through home care for respite? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I want to follow up on my statement and talk a bit about the Territorial Respite Care Plan, which apparently is ready to go.

I would like to ask the Minister, first of all, if he would give me, and give the House and the public, an update on the Territorial Respite Care Plan, where it is at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Yellowknife Association for Community Living and the NWT Disabilities Council provide many programs for disabled persons and their families. One of the most widely used and most appreciated programs is the Respite Care Program.

Under the Respite Program here in Yellowknife, a caregiver from the Yellowknife Association for Community Living takes care of disabled children for three to five hours a week. The program not only gives the children’s families a short break each week, but it also introduces the children to a social life outside their families.

The Yellowknife...

Thank you, Mr. Moses. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the bill if he has any witnesses he wishes to bring into the House.