Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee strongly recommends the Department of Health and Social Services take immediate action to establish a permanent long-term care facility in the Hamlet of Fort McPherson. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr, Krutko. The motion is being distributed and I will then call for speaking to the motion. Mr. Krutko, would you like to start?
There’s not too much to say. I know the Minister has the information that I mentioned. There is that documentation that I can probably table here in the House, which illustrates the 126 elders in Fort McPherson from the age of 60 to 97. I think, if you’re talking demographics, that’s definitely showing you that almost 20 percent of the population in Fort McPherson is within that category. I think that is a large number and I think even the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the organization in Inuvik were surprised when they realized the number of seniors that we do have in Fort McPherson. With that, I’d like to move the motion and ask for support from my fellow colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. To the motion, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a couple of comments. It is a concern for me that our seniors population is increasing a lot as we all grow older, and I’m included in that bunch, for sure. You don’t have to agree quite so noisily, my colleague. I did want to comment, though, that in terms of seniors care, we need to make sure that we have a continuum of care from housing, which allows them to be fully independent to assisted living to long-term care or to slightly assist...whatever. But we need a continuum of care, and one of the things that struck me in discussing this motion earlier is that I think Yellowknife has managed to get that kind of a continuum of housing and care for seniors through partnership and cooperation with community organizations and the Department of Health and the community. I think that’s something that the Minister needs to consider in looking at this motion. I think there’s a good opportunity for the Housing Corporation, certainly, to be involved in the development of this kind of a facility, and I think there’s also an opportunity for the community of McPherson or the Gwich’in Tribal Council to do some work in assisting the Minister and the Member in getting this kind of a facility set up. It’s going to be far more useful, I think, and it’s going to happen far sooner if we get more partners involved than just the Department of Health. That would be my urging to the Minister, to use as many people as possible and particularly those in the community to get this accomplished. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do support this motion. I think we need to take a broader look at the whole issue, as Ms. Bisaro said, of the emerging population of seniors and our life expectancy in the Northwest Territories is growing. That’s a good thing. People are living longer in the Northwest Territories, but we have to be prepared for that. So I think that I’m going to support Mr. Krutko’s motion here right now, because there is a particular need in the community that he represents and they took the initiative to sign a petition, which has been tabled in this House. So I think we need to send a clear message that we hear them and that we need to respond to that. But I think we also need to look at prioritizing a list of other communities, as well, that are in need of specialized, specific housing for seniors. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called.
---Carried
Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Chairman, I move that we report progress.
---Carried
