Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. I would like to ask the Minister: how has the Housing Corporation tracked and evaluated seniors' housing needs in Tsiigehtchic to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently at this moment I do not know if we have tracked the seniors' needs in Tsiigehtchic at this point. I can make a promise that we will do an assessment on the community and see how many seniors there are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister: what criteria does a community need to meet to trigger planned construction for a new seniors' home?
The current practice is that we try to do an assessment every year, and we try to look at all of the housing needs throughout the whole Northwest Territories. In my opinion, that was not always the best practice. That is why we are doing the survey and actually developing community plans, because, at that time, each community would have its own identified priorities, which, in my opinion, is a better way of providing services.
I would also like to ask: what other housing programs and services does the department offer to support Tsiigehtchic elders who want to say in their communities and the families who want to help support their elders?
There is a variety of supports that seniors can actually access for renovating their own homes that they currently live in. Recently, we also put an extra $500,000 into our budget specifically for seniors' homes, that they can actually use to help renovate so that they can stay in their homes as long as possible.
We are working hand in hand with Health and Social Services. We recognize that, seniors, there is a huge need, that the population is growing, and we are doing the best we can to try to help seniors to be able to age in place, whether that means staying in their own homes or having extra supports.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the department look at a planning study to see, if there is a real need in the community, which areas, for elders in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Members are aware, the housing survey actually just closed the other day, and so we will actually have the statistics coming in which we will share with all Members, which will identify the prioritized needs of each community and what they say. So, once that information is all compiled, I will share that with all of the Members.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
