Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleagues, I want to recognize the many seniors we have here visiting the House today and thank them for the many contributions that they have made in laying the path that we get to walk on today. As well as thank them for their continued efforts in building the supports for their fellow seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize RCMP chief superintendent Ron Smith in the gallery today. He was appointed as the chief superintendent of “G” Division in 2014 after progressing through multiple northern ranks over the last 20 years. We will be sorry to see him go, but wish him the best as he leaves later for a summer placement in Ottawa, not only for the summer, but ongoing. Sorry. He goes with our gratitude for a job very well done. Thank you. I would also like to recognize Leon Peterson and Beatrice Campbell. Leon is the current president, and Bea Campbell, past president of the NWT Seniors’ Society.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge and recognize the Seniors’ Society, particularly my auntie, Mavis Klause from Fort Resolution. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m proud to say we have a strong Hay River contingent in the gallery today, which is nice. Mr. Sheldon Whitlock, Maxime Gauthier, Ann Firth-Jones, Deputy Mayor Donna Lee Jungkind and Reagan Jungkind, and Myrtle Graham. I’m happy to say that most are my constituents. There may be one of Wally’s in there, so…
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I’ll be out in the lobby during the break and we can chat. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Frame Lake.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Yvonne Quick, who’s a constituent in the gallery. I can’t quite see her but she’s done a lot of very important work in the development of the tourism industry here in the Northwest Territories. I also want to recognize Sam Gargan. I had the privilege of working with Sam when he was a regular MLA on a private Member’s bill to introduce access to information legislation in the Northwest Territories. Thanks, Sam.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome all seniors that are joining us here today, particularly Elizabeth Kunnizzie from Inuvik and Jeanna Graham. I did work with Jeanna many years ago as a community health rep and we did a lot of really good work together through the Northwest Territories. I’d also like to recognize Mr. Stephen Jackson, who gave me a great tour of Avens not too long ago and I appreciate the work that they are doing. As well as welcoming and acknowledge Mr. Ron Smith and I know Mr. Wade Blake’s up there as well and appreciate the work that they’re doing. Our Minister gave a great statement on the battle against drugs in the Northwest Territories and in keeping the drugs off the street. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the NWT Seniors’ Society. These are the people who built the North and I have huge respect for them. I’d also like to point out Merlyn Williams, who is a personal friend of my father, my late father and it’s always an honour to hear him tell stories, especially when he talks about the UFOs and the encounters with my father. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize an advocate for NWT seniors, Ms. Ann Firth-Jones from Hay River, originally from Fort McPherson. Also, Florence Barnaby and also Wade Blake who I’m convinced is my long-lost relative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I’d also like to welcome all the seniors that are here with us and also we have in the gallery, chief superintendent. He’s been here for some time and leaving us, but it’s been great working with you, Mr. Smith. Also Wade Blake is here with us. He’s the director of community justice and community policing, previous chief superintendent as well, I worked closely with. I’d like to welcome you as well. Those that we may have missed, welcome to the Chamber and welcome to the gallery. It’s always nice to have an audience. Masi.
Masi. Acknowledgements. Member for Sahtu.
I would like to recognize my aunt, Florence Barnaby, a strong advocate for the society and the whole society members and Sheldon Whitlock. I had the privilege of working alongside Sheldon here a few times over the winter road season back home. Also Stephen Jackson, who also gave me a positive tour of the facility of the Avens Centre. Thank you.
Okay. I’ll get it right this time.
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I’m killing two birds with one stone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, the Premier’s Award went to a constituent in Deline. Her name is Ms. Brenda Baton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to acknowledge Ms. Brenda Baton from Deline, who just received the 2016 Premier’s Award for the NWT ASETS-Aurora College partnership. The Premier’s Award is to recognize outstanding individuals and teams who have gone above and beyond. Brenda works hard and is dedicated to the work she does in her community and for the delivery of that program in the whole Sahtu region. On behalf of the Sahtu region, I would like to congratulate Ms. Baton. Continue with the great work for the Sahtu region, Brenda. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier on, I spoke about elder awareness abuse day and today I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: how does the Our Elders: Our Communities framework support elders in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure there’s enough time on the clock. The Our Elders: Our Communities framework outlines seven priorities that will be used to guide the future program design for older adults to assist them to remain in their communities, as long as possible. That’s the ultimate goal of aging in place. The seven priorities include:
Healthy and active aging;
Home and community care services;
Integrated and coordinated services across the continuum;
Caregiver supports;
Elder responsive communities;
Accessible and current information, making sure it’s available; as well as
Sustainable best practices.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier today, Our Elders: Our Communities is a holistic document. It’s not a narrow document. It is focused on trying to improve resident’s experiences with aging and as I said, particularly, aging in place. We work closely with the NWT Seniors’ Society as well as trying to ensure that our residents have access to a wide range of programs and services to ensure that they can stay in their home for as long as possible and that they can stay in their communities as long as they can. We’re also developing specific action plans, so the action plan on community care services that is built around the top priority of areas of planning for long-term care. Our Elders: Our Communities is a holistic document, touching on many areas across the Northwest Territories for seniors in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister of Health and Social Services. Seeing how all these services are available to elders, I think moving ahead, we should make these services mobile so that the workers can actually come to the elder’s home and offer these rather than the elders having to leave their homes many times of the day when some of them need wheelchair access. My second question, Mr. Speaker, is: what is being done in the NWT to address abuse of our elders?
Mr. Speaker, the department has been collaborating with the NWT Seniors’ Society and the Network for the Prevention of Abuse of Older Adults. A key action in the strategy is related to training for frontline providers and screening, assessment and support of older adults who actually are undergoing abuse. Older adult abuse screening tools are designed to gather information about older adults and their circumstances in order to evaluate the possibility of abuse occurrence. Screening tools offer a framework for deciding what strategies may be the most appropriate, if problems are identified based on the individuals situations. The department has been working with the NWT Seniors’ Society to develop these screening tools for health and social services providers, going to the Member’s comment, so that they can identify elders who may be at risk of abuse and family caregivers at risk of burnout. The tools were focus tested by seniors in December 2015 and these tools will be trialed in practice setting during this fiscal year. We’re collaborating with the authorities on policies to support implementation of the new continuing care standards. Those are a number of the things that we are doing, but it’s all about partnerships, Mr. Speaker and working closely with the NWT Seniors’ Society and other groups throughout the Northwest Territories.
Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity for the Minister to answer that. Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is: what can a person do if they have concerns about the well-being of an elder? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, during my Minister’s statement today, I did provide a couple of numbers that individuals could call. But if an individual sees or witnesses abuse, I think one of the important things that a person can do is start developing a relationship with that elder and learning about the elder, to help him identify the abuse that might be taking place. They can go to the elder’s home and invite them to engage with other local seniors who may be participants in the society that is visiting us here today. I would encourage communication using the 1-800 numbers, getting in touch with other seniors and if the abuse continues and it escalates, they may well also want to get in touch with the RCMP. But definitely getting to know the elders and learning about them and finding out what’s going on in their lives is going to be critical and important.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the theme for today is about elders and seniors, I have some questions for the Minister of Housing. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Housing please advise the House how many public housing units have seniors in them in Nahendeh? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently there’s 37 public housing units with seniors residing in them in the Nahendeh communities. Of those 37 units, 29 of them are actually senior designated, meaning that they are specifically designed with accessibility features and these include the eight new units in the seniors independent housing complex that was just recently completed in Fort Liard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for her answer. It’s very encouraging. What is the Minister prepared to do to ensure our seniors are able to age in place and live in their communities in the Nahendeh region?
The increase in the senior population is really concerning to the Housing Corporation. We recognize that within the next five years, as much as 25 per cent increase in senior’s population within our territory. in response to that, we’re really focusing on building seniors’ independent living complexes within the communities and we’ve collaborated with Health and Social Services on the design of these complexes to make sure that they’re the most appropriate we can for our aging population. The most recently completed facility, like I said, was in Fort Liard and that will be fully operational very soon. Of those facilities that we’re looking at building, they’ll house eight seniors in each unit and then they’ll also have a place for a caregiver within that just to make sure that the wellness of seniors is maintained as well.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In my region actually, it’s probably getting really excited about some of this great stuff that’s happening. Mr. Speaker, besides public housing, what other programs does the NWT Housing Corp offer that will help our seniors remain in their communities?
Besides the public housing that we have, the things that we specialize specifically for seniors in their communities are, there are things that they can access like the emergency repair. We are really focusing on preventative maintenance with seniors. We’re actually trying to get out of the office, like one of the other Members have said and actually into their homes. We’re making it easier for them to access services. We have programs such as the SAFE program that makes sure that ramps, et cetera are done, CARE Major that they can come and get repairs up to $100,000, such as roofs, ramps, which are very expensive, et cetera. The biggest thing that the Housing Corporation is doing though to reflect on the needs of their aging population, is that we’re looking that all new housing units will be accessible in that they will have wider hallways, they’ll have entry-level floor levels, we’ll have bathrooms on the bottom floors and more secure walls within bathrooms so that we can add the ramps for people to help get out of showers, et cetera. We’re looking at it within a more of a holistic approach that all new housing will incorporate senior’s accessibility standards. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to thank the Minister for her answer. There has been information, Mr. Speaker, on small four-plexes being developed this year. Would these smaller units be made available for seniors in the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, we’re doing a pilot with the four-plexes within the communities at this point because we realize that, when we build four-plexes, actually, it’s more energy efficient. We can have, for example, one furnace room that heats all four units. The other really key thing within that is that, in my own personal belief and probably research would back that, is that seniors are very sociable, and so we need to really respect that. We need to keep the brain capacity of seniors going. We can’t isolate them in units that are individual, although we do have some units. The new four-plexes really allow for seniors to actually have that social network that they need and that does stimulate brain development If these work out and it’s cost effective, then we’ll be looking at that design within most communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Has the government made a commitment to implement the fiveyear strategy and action plan to create safe communities for older adults? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to be tabling the fiveyear strategy that was developed by the NWT Seniors’ Society and the NWT Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults later today. The department has been collaborating with the NWT Seniors’ Society and the network to support training for further frontline providers and screening assessment and support of older adults who undergo abuse. We have made a commitment and now make a commitment again here today that we will continue to work with the Seniors’ Society and participate with the network in prevention of abuse of older adults on the actions that fall within our mandate. This, once again, is about partnership and working together and being part of the solution. We’re committed to doing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Just for greater clarity, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that those priorities listed in the fiveyear strategy are, in fact, the priorities of the government? Thank you.
The document I’m tabling today isn’t a Government of the Northwest Territories document. It is actually a document of the Seniors’ Society, but we have participated with them, and we will certainly continue to work with them to support any initiatives to limit or reduce the amount of abuse of seniors. The individual actions are the actions identified within that report, which is not a government document. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
