Thank you. I guess my next question to the Minister would be why does Cabinet and the Minister not consider that the idea of an elders secretariat will work. Thank you.
Thank you. Because it’s about creating an entire bureaucracy to do something that is already being done by many, many departments in the government. If you look at the entire GNWT -- and the Member’s statement stated that already -- a large part of what we do in Health and Social Services is providing services to seniors and elders, whether it be hospital care, or long-term care, or home care, extra health benefits, a large part of Housing work is providing services to the elders. There are special programs for income support under ECE. Municipal Affairs even is doing Elders in Motion. So the thing is, there are lots of things we do do for the seniors that they need that encompass a large section of our government. So I would like to personally have as much dollars and all the money go to the programs rather than creating a bureaucracy and that is one of the reasons for not going with that idea. Thank you.
Thank you. You know, it’s quite distressing to me that when we as a government question as to why something can’t be done, the very first thing that I hear out of the Minister’s mouth is that it’s going to cost a huge amount of money. I really think that the Minister needs to think that there are ultimate ways of doing things than spending a million dollars on it. The need for coordination of any number of different programs, in this case seniors, was identified by the number of programs that she mentioned and that are spread all across this government. That said, I mentioned that the NWT Seniors’ Society is starting to work on phase 3 of their project and that will be to build networks in our communities. I’d like to know from the Minister what support does she envisage that this government will provide or what support does she intend to provide to the NWT Seniors’ Society to help them accomplish phase 3. It’s outside of their regular yearly program activities. Thank you.
Thank you. As the Member knows, I believe we are the biggest funder of the NWT Seniors’ Society. I don’t think we fund everything, because I’m sure they probably get funding from the federal government on a project-by-project basis, but we are a very close partner of the NWT society. So we will continue to work with them on proposals that they have. I’m not aware of the proposal that the Member is asking about specifically, but should that proposal come to me, I would be happy to look at that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I need to do is advise the NWT Seniors’ Society, who happen to be up in the gallery behind me, that they ought to make application to the Minister for some funding for phase 3 of their Elder Abuse Project.
I’d like to know from the Minister, I talked a bit about recognizing our elders in a different way, recognizing them as a significant cohort and a distinct sort of group within our society. I’d like to know whether or not the Minister has ever considered that possibility in terms of funding to split elders off into their own line item and, if not, would she consider that. Thank you.
Thank you. Unless the Member has information otherwise, I do believe that the NWT society’s work on elder abuse workshops and conferences over the years has been from the funding from the Department of Health and Social Services and government. We are a close partner with the society in working on elder abuse. They’ve identified that financial abuse is the latest topic that they wanted to work on, and we put in some federal funding and our own funding to do a pan-territorial campaign on elder abuse, which has been quite successful. So, Mr. Speaker, we fund the NWT Seniors’ Society. We also fund some of the community groups that come forward with their own elder programming, whether it be to get the community together or do awareness or to do a gathering. So, Mr. Speaker, without having seen the proposals, I cannot say right now whether we can fund it or not, but we do get those proposals. The Member is well aware of the fiscal pressure that we are in, so any of those proposals will be judged on that basis along with other priorities.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement, most particularly with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in that he had indicated that he was going to review the Income Support Program and the seniors home heating subsidy that is in that program. I’d like to ask what the timing is of that review.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I did commit in this House a couple of weeks ago that we are looking at a seniors home fuel subsidy and if we need to make some changes, we need to work with the committee members. Those are areas that I did already commit. We will keep the Members posted as we move forward.
When they’re reviewing the Income Support Program it really covers lots of different areas. I’m just looking to ask the Minister that when it comes to income support, that the seniors home heating subsidy gets reviewed by itself and all the different concerns that I’ve raised and other MLAs have raised, particularly when people are living with the seniors, and why is it impacting their eligibility, et cetera. If that’s something that’s separate and distinct that he can look at when he’s reviewing it.
The income security framework, there was a review back in 2007. Out of the review we made some changes to reflect on the high cost of living in small, isolated communities and to provide more subsidies to those communities. On the side of that, we’ve looked at a seniors home fuel subsidy, as well, and over time we made some changes on the threshold as well. This is a policy area. We’re looking at this request that was made a couple of weeks ago on various aspects of where seniors have their grandchildren or children living with them but they’re at 90-plus years of age. That was a scenario they were throwing at us. Those are cases we need to look at.
Representing small and remote communities I think I'm paying particular attention to how our seniors are treated there, as well, and given the program. I guess one of the other things, too, is that when workers are going to small and remote communities, the documentation is not there and there’s always a need to accept a statutory declaration because some documents are lost. What is the department’s position on using statutory declarations?
That was also brought up. That will be part of the discussion we’ll be having with my department. We need to look at the overall structure of how we deliver subsidy programming. We talk about individuals living with their parents or grandparents and some individuals can be making more money than we are, standing up here. But we don’t charge them to be part of the household. So we ask for household income so they can be part of the process. So there’s no penalization on the elders. Those are the options we need to work with.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister that there are people living and taking advantage of the seniors and there are people who are there to take care of them. There’s a distinction that we’re going to have to make and we’re going to have to consider that seriously, I certainly agree. I’d like the Minister to use that analogy when it comes to reviewing the income support and the seniors home heating subsidy.
Definitely that will be part of our discussion. We need to think of all the analysis that is out there. Having those individuals that are living with their parents that are working versus the ones that are looking after their grandparents or parents, those are the discussions that we need to have.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions that my colleague Mr. Krutko is asking, but I want to do it from a slightly different angle. Clearly we have an aging population in Canada and the Northwest Territories. People are living longer due to advances in health sciences and whatnot. In the Northwest Territories we’ve done a great job providing facilities to help support individuals who need level 3 and 4 care. With the approval of the capital budget we’ll soon have a long-term care facility for level 3 and 4 in every region in the Northwest Territories, which I think is great.
Research does suggest that living and aging in place has significant advantages to both the individuals and to the system by way of cost savings. The Minister of Health and Social Services has gone on the record talking about aging in place. I support that direction. I think there is significant value in helping people live in their homes. Aging in place does not just mean living in your communities, it means living in your home.
I’d like a little more information from the Minister of Health on what the department is doing proactively to support seniors today and in the future to live in their homes and age in place rather than have to rely on facilities. It would be a lot more affordable for us to help them stay in their homes than to put them in facilities. What is some of the proactive work the Minister’s doing?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We understand and the Member recognizes that we need to have a long-term care facility network in regional centres at least. We have a long way in doing that. We have planned for them. We have put them into capital planning. We know that has to be the last resort. Most families and elders, even, I don’t think want to go into long-term care facilities unless they have to. This is why we set up as our long-term goal to expand home care services.
We have very good home care services in places like Yellowknife, and the GNWT provides home care as an insured service, which is something different. In other jurisdictions you have to pay for those, except for those who meet income tests or something like that. We want to expand these programs to regional centres and communities and that’s one of the things we’re doing in Aklavik, whereas right now we’re looking after two long-term care elders for a large amount of money, MLA Krutko has pointed out a number of times that he believes there are, and we agree too, they are up to 100 or 30 to 60 elders who are at home doing their own thing but who need support from the government, so that we pay attention to them, that we have elders program, lunch program, where health care professionals and other community people could converge and keep an eye on our elders so that they’re supported, they’re provided with recreational programs, and just a network is built around these elders so that we prevent them from falling through the cracks. It is one that we want to expand and that’s the goal of the department.
I thank the Minister for all those comments. I agree wholeheartedly. I think this is an important area to work on. The responses were more conceptual, they were bigger picture, and I’m kind of wondering more about the specific actions that are taking place to help us facilitate aging in place. I know that we need more home care support and we do have a great program here in Yellowknife, but what is the plan? How are we actually going to facilitate getting home care workers, whether it’s a home care nurse or a home support worker, into those communities?
I do have a suggestion for the Minister. Several years ago, probably eight or nine now, the Aurora College delivered this Home Support Worker Training Program and it was delivered by the college but facilitated out of Fort Res. I believe they trained about eight or nine local people to be home support workers. Great program, great benefits. Is this the type of thing we can expect to see in other communities throughout the Northwest Territories? Training of local people for local jobs to get them to support local people?
I didn’t know that’s what the Member was referring to. The Member knows already, and I’ve already said that in the standing committee briefing last week and throughout the Committee of the Whole debates, that that’s the direction we need to take. We’re expanding the long-term care facilities in Behchoko from eight beds to 18 beds. We’re going to have an 18-bed facility in Norman Wells. Even in those facilities we could use personal attendants and home support workers.
We want to expand the Home Support Worker Program and Home Care Program in many other regions and communities. Yellowknife, I think, is a standard. I think we have a very good programming in Yellowknife and Hay River and some of the major centres, but we desperately need to expand these programs into communities. What we have under Foundation for Change action plan is that we have set this as a goal and are moving out from where we have so much need in so many of our communities. Part of that work, and I’ve said that already, in reviewing our health training program at Aurora College, I am definitely working with the department and we are talking with HR about having Home Care Support Training Program to get ready for expansion.
Once again I agree with everything the Minister is saying and I support the direction they’re going. What I’m looking for more is sort of concrete action. When can we expect to see some of these programs rolled out in the communities? We’re not getting any younger. Now is kind of the time to get these programs in place. I hear what she’s saying. I heard what the Minister is saying and I support what the Minister is saying. I’m glad the Minister’s doing it. When can we start to see some action rolled out? When can we start seeing some of the training on the ground for the people?
We are doing that right now so I’m not sure. A lot of people say, well, when are you going to do that? We are doing that as we speak. We are rolling out a program in Aklavik as we speak. That’s the transition between the Joe Greenland Centre and the program we are going to be offering. We are expanding the Home Care Program there. We want to deliver elders centre day programming there.
The Foundation for Change action plan includes expansion of home care but we need to find the resources to do that and that includes training and that includes having PYs set for home care. We are making that part of the business plan. We already have a very well-established Home Care Program in the Northwest Territories. I believe Ruth Spence started that 30 years ago, or Esther Braden. We have a very well-established Home Care Program history in the Northwest Territories. Our challenge is to expand that to communities outside of Yellowknife and we’re doing that right now. He doesn’t have to wait for the bell to go off and say when are you getting going. We are doing that. We want to do more of it.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister might be missing the point I’m trying to make here. I agree with everything she’s saying. I think our Home Care Program is fantastic. I’m glad it’s rolling out to the other communities. I’m talking about getting the people in those communities trained to do the jobs, trained to do the home support worker programs. I don’t actually see... If it exists, I’d like her to show me where our current home support worker training exists. That’s what I’m asking. I support everything the Minister is doing, but where’s the training program? When can we see a training program roll out so we can get Northerners doing northern jobs to help the elders and seniors in the communities? That’s what I’m focusing on, not on the great programs that exist and moving them out, because I support them. I’m talking about training. I’m just trying to be clear.
I think I should give him my profile of where we are with home care programming that we’re doing right now. I would be happy to give him information on where we need to go and where we plan to go. Obviously, all the time it’s subject to funding. I’ve presented information to standing committee about growing funding needs. We want to expand the Home Care Program. We want to do different things with mental health programming. We have $40 million or $50 million asked right now with the Department of Health and Social Services that we will be prioritizing and bringing forward in months to come.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to probe a little further on how this government can and will assist our seniors as they struggle to deal with the issue of elder abuse. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors.
At the close of the NWT Seniors’ Building Network Symposium the society stated some priorities for immediate action. They want to put in place pilot networks in communities over the next three to four years; upgrade their online support to fight abuse with information; they want to reinstate the NWT Prevention of Abuse of Older Adults Steering Committee; and they seek seniors’ agreement to rename the June Senior Citizens Week as World Elder Awareness Week in the Northwest Territories. Four specific issues. Will the Minister have her staff sit down and meet with NWT Seniors’ executive on these four specific points and report to the Social Programs committee on how this government will give their support? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our staff meets regularly with seniors’ groups including the NWT Seniors’ Society. They have very good relationships with them. I was at the elders’ conference in December on elder abuse and I am not aware if they have formally submitted those proposals. They might have but I just don’t have that in front of me. When they do and if they have, we would review them, analyse them and respond to them. Thank you.
I’ll take that as a yes, the Minister’s staff will sit down with these folks.
On Monday, Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister to report back on the results of last week’s Coalition Against Family Violence meeting. The NWT Seniors’ Society is calling, as we heard from my colleague Ms. Bisaro, for the phase 3 of the Action Plan on Family Violence to make elder abuse a priority for phase 3 work. Will the Minister include this in the debriefing from the meeting and report back to committee on how this important element of the family violence equation can be given priority? Mahsi.
My understanding is that the coalition had one meeting and they are going to continue to meet to work on making a proposal to the government on phase 3. The past practices have been not only with this Family Violence Coalition but also the Homelessness Coalition. Those are groups made up of people in the field as well as some of the government staff. Traditionally, we let them do their work and they will make their presentations to appropriate departments and the Ministers. It’s not a normal practice for a Minister to tell them what to do. Obviously, I am here standing ready to hear from them, but I think we do need to give them some time to do the work. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to present to us, and I’d be happy to ask them to include elder abuse as part of their work. Thank you.
Thank you for the response from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, we need data to attack this problem. Data is information and all we have right now is anecdotal information. The Seniors’ Society is calling on government to get the facts and start research projects to collect specific data on the extent of elder abuse and living conditions specific to seniors. The Anti-Poverty Alliance is calling for the same improvements in data collection. Will the Minister commit to working with the Department of Executive to take prompt action on this request so we can set the 17th Assembly up with good data for informed action? Thank you.
I was not given that request from the NWT Seniors’ Society. I don’t know if the society sent that information to the Member. I’m here ready to work with the NWT Seniors’ Society. I’ve not been given a chance to review those, so if the society has any information that they would like us to look into, we stand ready to look at their request. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. I thought she was at the meeting, but I’ll certainly make sure the seniors’ committee is corresponding with the Minister with that full information and request. Again, like the Anti-Poverty Alliance, the NWT seniors are calling for a coordinated and cross-government approach. Nothing new. The Minister is responsible for the well-being of seniors. Could she commit to updating her current seniors’ issues action plan with these inputs and reporting to committee again on this renewed strategy and again on the Coalition Against Family Violence meeting results as well? Thank you.
As I indicated, they had one initial meeting and I’m not sure if there’s a whole lot to report right now, but I am committed to working with them. I think we should give them a chance to meet and discuss and think through about where they want to go on the next phase.
I just want to repeat that my department, my officials that work with the seniors, they have a very good working relationship with them as the people who work on the Family Violence Coalition as the other coalitions we have. We have our staff working with the NGOs and stakeholders in these groups. As the material arrives from them I would be happy to brief the committee and work with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Transportation regarding the Auditor General’s report on the Deh Cho Bridge. I listened quite clearly to the Minister’s statement from earlier today where on page 2 he says we continuously identify risks and track mitigation measures. I am confident that we are adequately managing risks to ensure the highest standards of quality and safety are maintained in this project.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister says that, but quite clearly in the Auditor General’s report risk management is certainly called into question by the Department of Transportation. I’d like to, first of all, ask the Minister of Transportation what plans they have specifically to address the responsibility for certifying that the design and construction of the whole bridge project will meet Canadian highway bridge design code. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an expected comment, I guess, from this MLA that hasn’t agreed with anything that we’ve provided him. Mr. Speaker, on this occasion there has been a number of approvals to the design. It has the piers which have been signed off by a designer. We had the superstructure that also has been approved and signed off by a second designer. We also have some repairs on some of the deficiencies that were signed off by another engineer. Mr. Speaker, we have to realize that as a government we did overview on this design and all our engineers inspected it and approved it. We are currently now engaged with a contractor to look at providing an overarching approval which would require one engineer to give its final design. That’s in the works, Mr. Speaker. We have already seen the first draft of the recommendations and we’ll continue moving that forward. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have a design for three years into a project. You still don’t have a firm design. You’ve had more engineers, probably close to 30 or 40 engineers working on the project. It’s little wonder that you’re going to have trouble finding somebody that can come in and sign off on that project, ultimately, at the end of the day.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister what evidence does he and the department have that the other risks that are addressed in the Auditor General’s report are being managed effectively? Thank you.
A perfect example, by the comments made, that he doesn’t agree with anything that we’ve provided him. We have provided numerous briefings and I’ve just indicated to him that this has been signed off by three different engineers, it has been reviewed by our team, some world-class engineers that have given their approval. Mr. Speaker, we have dealt with all the risks that are involved. We’ve reviewed it. We’ve had the Levelton Report, which did a technical review. We’ve put a plan of action together to address these issues that have come forward. Some of them have also come forward through the Auditor General’s report by the Member that instigated the motion that required this. It has been a real challenge to deal with an auditor. For the 12 months that this project has been in our possession, we have been audited for eight of those. I’m not sure who is going to satisfy his questions, but I can reassure him that we have a team. We have a framework that was recognized by the Auditor General. There has been no question of safety or quality. I think things are moving very well. Thank you.
