Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the roles is being an advocate for the seniors within the Cabinet, working with the various departments, but also the second part of it is to work with the seniors' societies. Groups in the Northwest Territories that have seniors' issues that need to come forward and talk to me, as well. I attend federal meetings, as well, on behalf of the government in regard to seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The month of June is designated as Senior Citizens Month in the NWT. It is a time to recognize and show appreciation for the contributions made by seniors and elders to our communities, our families, and society in general.

In the Northwest Territories, seniors continue to be the fastest growing demographic in our population. In fact, it is projected that seniors and elders will comprise approximately 20 percent of our territorial population by 2035. This presents opportunities as well as challenges, Mr. Speaker.

We must ensure our seniors have a good quality of life...

I would like to thank the Member for that great idea. We will, and I have been working with my colleagues across here, been working to get that information. We do have the Seniors' Handbook, but we can work together to get it into the languages, and as well to try to get it out there in the news, and that, and working there. We are more than willing to work with my colleagues on that issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's my understanding that there are inter-agency committees in some of the communities. Health is part of it, ECE, Municipal and Community Affairs, and Housing. They are there; they do have inter-agency meetings. I'm not sure about every community, but I know that there are a number of communities that have that group that works together.

Unfortunately, I can't make that commitment. I am becoming the Minister of "No." However, we do have a number of activities, things that various departments are doing. We are also working with NGOs to identify concerns and issues that we can help work with them. At the end of the day, as the Member says, you plan to fail or whatever the statement was. I get that one mixed up. If you fail to plan, you fail, but at the end of the day, we are working with the government departments to make sure that the issues are brought forth, that we can work to be able to achieve that. We have a variety of...

Presently, the Minister responsible for Seniors doesn't have any fiscal or staff time allocated to me specifically; however, I do have a working relationship with various Ministers, in particular the Minister of health, and we are able to work together on various tasks and we are able to get work done that way. Also, in regard to resources, one of the things is that we are looking at our mandate letters and some of the challenges that we see facing us. We have reached out to AOC, and to my understanding, it has gone to the committees, and they are coming back and commenting on our ability with...

Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to rise and talk about some of the COVID-19 responses in the Nahendeh region.

Northerners throughout the area support local events and groups however they can. Things like the Lights On Program and the elementary school lunch program received donations monthly pre-COVID-19. That includes monthly donations. The North West Company Healthy Horizons Foundation donated $20,000 to the Lights On Program so that they could begin to build a snowboard park in Fort Simpson, and I'm happy to say it's been built. Since the pandemic started, they donated $1,000 to the local...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government recognizes the importance of supporting our seniors and elders to ensure that they remain living safely in their own communities. The current mandate has several priorities which address key areas that impact the ability of seniors and elders to age in place, including housing, income, and finances; health support; community infrastructure and supports; and safety. Several departments are leading the work on this, including Education, Culture and Employment, Municipal and Community Affairs, Health and Social Services, Justice, and the NWT Housing...

There are a number of opportunities for elders to reach out. There are emergency protection orders that they can reach out to Justice with the Alison McAteer House, so they are able to go forward with that. They are also able to reach out to the NWT Seniors' Society to help them, and they would give them direction on where they go, as well as working with Health and Social Services staff; they are able to work with them, as well. There are a variety of opportunities. As well, I would also encourage them to reach out to leadership and get them to help them, too, because then they can direct...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the mandate and one of the priorities is we are working on that. Right now, we do have a hotline available for people to bring forth their concerns. We also have the work with NWT Seniors' Society who provide that information to us, and then we try to work with seniors moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.