Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, the Minister of Finance pointed out that there is money in this budget to allow the residents of a longterm care unit at H.H. Williams Hospital to remain in their homes. Given that we have no other longterm care beds available in Hay River, I'm excited to hear that the government isn't evicting my nana or the other residents of longterm care. This highlights an important and urgent issue. On February 29th, the Long-Term Care Program Review was tabled in this House. It states that in 15 years, Hay River will require 46 long-term care beds. Right now, we have 25. Despite this, the Finance Minister also just announced that the government is moving forward with what I understand is a $10 million plan to reduce the number of longterm care beds in Hay River from 25 to 24. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure everyone understands this government math: 25 beds plus $10 million equals 24 beds. Well, we must be getting a brand new 24-bed facility, right? Wrong. We're building a new nine-bed facility and closing our ten-bed facility. Our other 15 beds are in a 27-year-old building nearing the end of its life. Furthermore, the new facility is being built on a site that currently doesn't allow for future expansion. This project clearly does not address our needs. The government dropped the ball when the longterm care beds were omitted from the new health centre, and it's dropping the ball again. I understand that this project was envisioned years ago when our needs weren't fully understood. Now that they are, why don't we take this $10 million we've committed to this project and put it towards a larger facility? On this very issue, Minister Abernethy has said that we need to think outside the box and make sure to get the “best bang for our buck”. I'm calling on the government to do just that: re-examine this project and find a better option. Once we break ground, it's going to be too late to change course. The taxpayers will be on the hook for millions and we won't be any further ahead. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
