Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Previously in other sittings I have had questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding the boarding home in Yellowknife. Can the Minister advise the House: is that contract renewed every year, annually, or is it an RFP process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister for these answers. So a dietician is in place. I'm assuming, and I don't want to assume, so I'm going to ask the question here again with the Minister: can the Minister advise how the department works with the boarding home to ensure that the Canada's Food Guide is actually followed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I keep hearing concerns about this ratio of 6:1, and some of the concerns they have is people who, you know, take medication and they have to be close to the washroom, and they don't seem to have washrooms available. Does the boarding home take this into account when they assign patients' beds?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answers from the Minister. I am looking forward to, hopefully, him sharing who that new person is so that we can then share it with our constituents out there who have those concerns. I guess my last question in regard to this here is: will the Minister have his staff reach out to patients for the past six months to see what their concerns are and how they can be addressed in the future, so that we provide a better service for our residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have heard a number of concerns from my constituents, most recently about not being able to shower because there are no towels in there. First of all, is the department aware of this situation, and do they tell the patients who are coming there what type of toiletry items they need to bring in?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Long-term care facilities provide an essential and critical service to our elders population, along with society as a whole. Long-term care facilities, very much like the elders' home in Fort Simpson, provide our elders with 24-hour professional care in terms of their physical, mental, emotional, social, and often psychological needs. Many of our elders require 24-hour care, much of which the family is unable to provide. Consequently, making the decision to place loved ones in long-term facility is never an easy one.

When an elder moves from their place of residence to a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am just going to read a summary from the Dehcho First Nation, which is five of the communities that I represent. It is summarizing. This was a letter sent to Minister McLeod on January 18, 2019.

"DFN does not support the introduction of the draft Forest Act bill as provided to us on December 20, 2018. The draft legislation as discussed with the technical working group meeting on January 9, 2018, is not consistent with the provisions of the Dehcho IMA, and does not address DFN's substantive concerns about the potential adverse impact of this legislation on Dehcho rights...

Some of the other concerns I heard were regarding the food. Does the department inspect the food on a regular basis?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier during this question and answer period I had questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding the boarding home. I've been advised that the ratio for beds to washrooms is 6:1 in the boarding home. Is this ratio to code? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I support this motion; however, I am a little concerned that it reports to the Committee on Government Operations instead of the Standing Committee of Social Development. Social development is the committee that will end up with this document after the Auditor General's report, and direction will come to social development. That is my concern with it. It can be cc'd to the Standing Committee on Government Operations, but it should go to standing committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.