Wendy Bisaro

The Department of Health and Social Services, working with the NWT Housing Corporation, can develop the necessary assisted living facilities for these vulnerable residents of our NWT society before it is too late.

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

Now I’m really confused. Are we finished constructing a new centre? If so, why are we conducting preliminary consultations and preliminary design guidelines for a new visitors centre? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a quick question with regard to the two projects for the Sixtieth Parallel Visitor Information Centre. One of them references preliminary design and design guidelines, the other one talks about interior interpretive signage for the facility. In the backup documentation that we got on the second project, on the interior displays, it talked about the new facility being built, I think, in this year, which I don’t think is accurate. But if I could just get an explanation as to the difference between these two projects, please. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I have to ask the Minister what that one refers to. Is it this document which I have in my hand, which is labelled Summary of Departmental Needs, Capital Needs Assessment, 20 Years, Five-Year Capital Planning Process? Thank you.

I’d like to know from the Minister when that was sent. My concern is that, and I’m kind of following up from the discussion that I had with the Minister earlier today with regard to housing and facilities for adult disabled residents who need supervisory care, assisted living and so on. I didn’t get a sense from the Minister that this plan has any specific buildings or facilities identified for that sort of care. I guess I will wait until I see the plan to ask further specific questions, but if the Minister could advise when that plan was sent to committee and, I guess, also if the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a couple of questions with regard to this page. I’m a little confused. I want to follow up on Mr. Abernethy’s question about the expense for the GNWT office and records centre warehouse tenant improvements. When I read the justification for the expense, it sounded to me as though the tenant improvements were going to be in the Semmler Building, which I gather is where this particular program is now. So are the tenant improvements for this new building, which I kind of don’t think is built yet, or is it for the building that the division is currently in?

Thanks to the Minister. I have to say I agree we have more spaces here in Yellowknife than any other community, but we happen to have more people in Yellowknife than we do in any other community. So, you know, I think that probably goes hand in hand.

The Minister says that we need to plan. Absolutely, I agree, we need a plan, and this is my point. I would like to know from the Minister, I did ask what that plan is. We have an increasing number of adult disabled children who are going to need accommodation. I’d like to ask the Minister when we can expect to see a plan or when can we expect to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I spoke in my statement about the lack of facilities for adult disabled children who need to move out of their parents’ home and into assisted living or independent living. The impact of the situation on families is huge when they have no space that they can move into. For this family of constituents of mine, this is their home community. Yellowknife is where they’ve been for some 30-plus years. They want to stay in their community. They want their child to be able to stay in the community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently became aware of a growing problem in our health care system in my community here in Yellowknife, and in the NWT in general, and it’s important enough that I need to bring it to the attention of this House and the public.

I have constituents in my riding who are a family with a disabled adult child, one who needs supervision 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The parents are aging -- something we all do, unfortunately -- and they realize that at some point they will not long be able to care for their child at home.

In an effort to be proactive, to plan for the...

I’m referencing page 10-5, third item down, description: conduct preliminary consultations and develop preliminary design and design guidelines for new visitors centre.