Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. In our Aboriginal culture and beliefs it is a well-known fact that we take care of elders. Elders take care of the community, kind of watch over the community so that the community stays within the respect of the land, and the water and the animals. Over the years that role of elders has diminished somewhat. The basic fact is that elders are still being respected; they still need to be looked after. Over the years the policies of the GNWT have removed our elders and now they are in need of help.
I want to ask the Minister responsible for Seniors if he would work with his other colleagues to look at a comprehensive approach or strategy to how we take care of elders and their basic needs in the communities. Would the Minister come back with a plan to look at how our elders should be taken care of in our communities?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Tom Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, I met with the NWT Seniors’ Society. We had a similar discussion. The seniors wished to be more involved with not just their own communities but to be involved with the whole territory. Representatives were there from all the communities. I indicated to them that this government was prepared to work. We are doing some intergovernmental work with the seniors and we are planning on trying to utilize the seniors and get their input as to what services they need at the community level.
I spoke to some elders in Tulita, Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake. The elders are afraid. They are afraid of the government’s policies because it violates their requirement or criteria to receive help from their family members. They are living alone. Some of them are old, they’re ill, they’re in their 70s and 80s. They’re saying if they have a family member live with them, they’re going to get punished because they’re not going to be eligible for some programs. That is so wrong. That is so against our culture, and our beliefs and upbringing. That’s what I’m asking the Minister.
Would he meet with his colleagues to change some of the requirements, for example, for the fuel subsidy and other subsidies that they are receiving? The government seems to pick on the elders. I want to ask, don’t pick on the elders, don’t pick on my culture. This is what is needed to help our elders. They have been there for us; we need to be there for them. I want to ask the Minister if he would look at those types of specific policy changes that he could work with the other Ministers and start making changes as soon as possible.
Yes, as the Member responsible for Seniors that is my intention, is to work with the Department of Education on the Seniors Fuel Subsidy Program. Sometimes – the Member is right – the individuals are living with the elder and supporting the elder, but because the policy indicates that they need to have a Revenue Canada form filled out to determine their income, the individual senior loses the fuel subsidy. Also in public housing, sometimes the seniors who are eligible for no rent in public housing will sometimes end up paying rent when they’re getting support from their family.
As the Minister responsible for Seniors, my intention is to have discussions with the Ministers of Housing and ECE and work with them to try to resolve that issue.
My colleague from Mackenzie Delta talked about increasing the home care workers in his communities, which I support. I think we also have a solution to help the Minister help this government saying if you can allow family members to live with their elders and take care of them, some of them are fragile – some of my own relatives – allow their family members to take care of them. That’s the way my culture has based its foundation on taking care of its elders. If not, they’re going to live alone, like somebody said in Colville Lake. There was an old man who died by himself. That put a lot of tears in the people’s eyes. That is so shameful. We should not have let that happen. That old man said if I allow somebody to live with me, I will be punished by this government.
For goodness sake, I ask this government to change those policies. Don’t work against my elders. Help my elders. I want to ask the Minister what type of policies now that he starts to look at to change these policies, so that I can go back, and anyone can go back to the elders and say your family members can help you, and live with you and stay with you without being looked over by the government. When will you do that?
As the Member said, there’s a requirement for increase in home care, but it’s just one area where there could be a decrease if the elders were allowed to have family members. We agree, also, that family members staying with elders do prevent elders from going into long-term facilities, which are very expensive. The alternative I think that this government needs to look at and will be looking at, is to make sure that program policies that prevent elders from getting assistance in their homes because of the risk of losing programs that they should be getting, and subsidies that they should be getting, will be looked at by the three departments mentioned earlier.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister when will his department work with the board that’s responsible for the Aven Manor Centre to look at the change of policies where the communities now can bring in traditional caribou food and moose, traditional meat into that centre. I have five elders or so that are just dying to eat their traditional foods. The policy right now says no, you can’t. I know they’re willing to help. When can we get that done so I can tell people you can send fish to this long-term care facility? Our people want to eat it right now. They are just dying to eat their traditional food. When can the Minister help me on this one here?
The department is looking at that now. We have already had communications from the Member that this was an issue. We looked into the storage of the food, the country foods and so on. I’ve asked the department, specifically Health and Social Services, to look into that issue at this time.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. I want to recognize the clock for oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
