Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and are related to the respite program. It is delivered at the Yellowknife Association of Community Living. The association has received a letter from Yellowknife Health and Social Services saying that their funding for the 2011-12 fiscal year has been cancelled; therefore, there will be no respite program at this association. I was wondering if I could get the Minister to tell me if we could get that money reinstated to continue that program on for a longer period of time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a program that Yellowknife Health has been funding the Association of Community Living. I believe in talking to the authority, they wanted to engage YACL so that they could have discussions on how to go forward in light of the fact that the funding will expire at the end of 2011. I think we should give them time to discuss and look at options. I believe that is what they are doing. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I saw the letter that was sent. It says, congratulations, you have no money. There is no funding for 2011-12, so I am not sure what discussions could be had, based on the fact that they have cancelled the funding. What I am asking the Minister to do is work with her department and see if she could find the $250,000 it will take to run this incredibly important program for these families in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that this is an important program. This is not the matter of debate. The program was a pilot project. The funding was time limited. The Yellowknife Health Authority is being responsive and responsible in letting them know so that they could engage, and they are talking about all options that are available to assist the families. I understand that the executive director and the authorities are willing to discuss all options with the authority, and we should give them a chance to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that there was some time limit on this and that this was a pilot study. This was also tied to the THAF funding which was originally cut and there wasn’t going to be any of it for this year, but the THAF funding has been extended for this year and next year. I am curious why it was tied to that funding originally. Why would we only extend this program for one year when we have the THAF funding for two years? Why are we differentiating between these programs and cutting off at 2010-11 when we have money until 2011-12?
Mr. Speaker, the Member and the Members across have an input. We have a consensus system of government here where we see all of the details of these funding mechanisms.
THAF funding was for five years and it was to expire in March of this year. We were able to extend the program with the federal government, which we appreciate very much. The federal government is supporting us in a big way. But the new funding program or package is not identical to the first THAF. It is an extension and it has a specific criterion that has earmarked all of the money that they are funding. The extension of THAF, which is now called THSSI, does not provide for the respite care program. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Which begs a question: Why we are able to fund it for 2010-11 and not 2011-12 if it is the same funding?
My question goes to THAF and planning within the department. We all know that the THAF money was intended to be an opportunity to explore some of these other areas of health care and that we were supposed to do some transition planning on how we are going to fund these programs, especially the programs that work, in the future. This is one that worked. This is one that had value, yet I don’t seem to recognize or see any evidence that the authority and the department did the planning for the longevity of these programs. I think we have a responsibility here to continue to deliver this program. So once again I go back to the Minister and ask her to commit to finding the funding to continue this program on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will be coming forward to the Standing Committee on Social Programs on details of THSSI funding that we had received. We are just finalizing that and transitioning, Mr. Speaker, but that does not mean finding ways to extend the program. We need to understand very clearly that THAF and THSSI funding will expire at the end of 2012. We need to come up with an exit program. Transition does not mean finding ways to extend, it means exiting. I will be coming forward as a supp to deal with THSSI. I will be putting forward a proposal to the committee members for everybody to review. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
