Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to stand up in this House time and time again and raise the issues on behalf of my constituents. But here I am again, Mr. Speaker, today, expressing my very many concerns about the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik.
Mr. Speaker, it has been open since 1978. Mr. Speaker, 32 years the Joe Greenland Centre has served people in the northern region...(inaudible)...communities throughout the Sahtu, Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea. This is a great example of how local people can take care of the elders in the North and also in our northern communities and keeping them in their communities for as long as possible.
But now, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services wants to remove the elders in long-term care to Inuvik or someplace else. They have no problem telling our elders, oh, you’ll have to move out to Inuvik in the next two weeks. No problem moving the elders in regard to the affect it’s going to have on their husbands, wives and, more importantly, their family, their children and the community. This is what’s happening right now in Aklavik.
While it’s really nice to hear the statements by the government in their budget, this government is moving our elders away from the people that they most care about and most love, and moving them away from our communities such as from the Joe Greenland Centre, understanding that under the Tenant’s Act of the Northwest Territories you have to give 90 days’ notice in regard to the moving of someone from their occupancy. Given that they gave two weeks’ notice to the elders in the Joe Greenland Centre -- one is 90 years old and the other is 80 -- basically they have to vacate the premises by February 16th.
The population of Aklavik, again, is aging. They have some 76 elders over the age of 60 and of that, half are over 70 or more. Sure, I know that we don’t all need long-term care in our communities, but at some point we will, and we have to ensure that we have the capability, such as the capacity that the Joe Greenland Centre has provided.
Mr. Krutko, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, again, this leaves the Joe Greenland Centre out of the picture, where we already have trained staff running the facility and in the community of Aklavik.
Mr. Speaker, the loss of 14 full-time jobs in Aklavik is a big problem here. That is 10 percent of the jobs in Aklavik. I’d like to remind Cabinet of its priorities we set at the start of the 16th Assembly. I did not think that included the unemployment dropping, or rising in our communities because of the layoffs of 14 people in Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, I was totally appalled at finding out that they were going to basically shut down the long-term care facility in Aklavik.
Again, Mr. Speaker, the average income in Aklavik is $8,000 per year. Mr. Speaker, $8,000 a year. That’s pathetic. What happens is that the Joe Greenland Centre is just another example of this government neglecting small communities and their needs. Mr. Speaker, I will be making a motion asking the Members to support the continued long-term care in the Joe Greenland Centre, and maybe a few Cabinet Members should think about this and, more importantly, do the right thing.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services on this matter.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
