Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to my Member’s statement. Like I mentioned, the Joe Greenland Centre, which is a level 3 facility, is now 30 years old. I know that in previous years — and I’ve been looking through the capital budgets — there were dollars allocated to do a major retrofit on this facility. Now I see it’s nowhere to be seen in the books, yet we’re building new facilities. We’re building dementia centres; we’re building care facilities in the larger centres.
I’d like to ask the Minister where this department is going to ensure that there will be elderly care available to communities so that their elders can live out their days in their communities without having to fly out of their region and go to regional centres, so that they can be taken care of closer to home, around family members and loved ones.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the Member. I’ve been to Aklavik many a time, but I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Joe Greenland Centre until my recent visit there in May. I want to tell you that the department is very well aware of the demographic trend of the NWT population, which is in line with the rest of Canada. It says that the biggest growth over the next ten to 20 years will be with our elderly or older population because baby boomers are aging, and they’re going to live longer and healthier. The community of Aklavik’s demographics follow that line. I’m told that there are a lot fewer births and young children and they’re a more aging population, and we need to make sure that we are planning for that.
The Joe Greenland Centre, as it was built and as it’s operating, is not suitable for a long term care facility. I am working with the department to see how we could plan for the future of Aklavik and address the need for independent senior housing units there, because a long-term care facility needs to be 24-7. It’s a lot more labour intensive, and that’s taken care of in Inuvik. I’m willing to look at Aklavik.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t agree that the residents from my communities have to go to Inuvik for elderly care. If anything, I want them to remain in their communities and these facilities to function in our communities so they’re able to be provided with that service in the communities rather than having them exported out of our communities, because the elders do play a critical role in the social development of our communities.
So again I’d like to ask the Minister exactly when we are going to see some capital investment in the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik so that it can be brought up to safe standards in regard to a 30 year old facility.
The Joe Greenland Centre is over 30 years old. There have been renovations worked on. The board suggests that it is not possible to revive it to the level that it needs to be to function the way it was meant. I have to tell you that we are not going to be able to have a long term care facility in every place, but we need to make sure that whereas the regional centres like Inuvik or Yellowknife could have more acute care programs, communities like Aklavik need to have a facility that meets the need of the community to look after their elders. It will be more of a level 1 and level 2 care, and other centres will have level 3 and 4. We need to be rational about that. I’m willing to look at Aklavik to see what facility we could have there to look after the elderly as a growing population.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement, these facilities were put in place back in the ’70s so that they could provide elderly care in the regions I mentioned: Fort Resolution, Behchoko, Deline and Fort Simpson. Those were regional facilities. The facility in Aklavik is a regional facility. It also provides employment to people in the region and in those communities. I think that we also have to not lose sight that this is more than just simply building $10 million or $20 million facilities and regional centres so that you can fill them up with people from communities. That should not be the plan of this government.
Again I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a report in regard to the facility in Aklavik, and what has to be expended to bring it up to today’s standards?
There have been studies done. I don’t know if that was specifically to the Joe Greenland Centre or in terms of facilities and requirements for the entire NWT, but I will look into it to see what we have and give the Member a copy.
Mr. Speaker, I’m advising the Member that we have to look at the community of Aklavik to see what the needs are. I’m not going to presume to know all of the cultural and demographic make-up of Beaufort-Delta, but there is a very close connection between Inuvik and Aklavik. If we’re going to have two centres, we need to make sure we’re not repetitive in our services being delivered there. It would make sense to have a facility in Aklavik for small communities that are less labour intensive and less acute and leave it to Inuvik, where there’s a hospital, for those who need more intense 24-7 care.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These facilities provide employment to people in the communities. With the social problems we see in our communities, where people are leaving our communities because they can’t find jobs and whatnot, this government has a responsibility to ensure that we provide services in communities, not all at the regional level. That’s exactly what I’m hearing from the Minister. Everything we do in the Mackenzie Delta, we have to go to Inuvik for our services. That should not be the case.
I’d like to ask the Minister again: when is this government going to decentralize programs back into communities so they can really provide services for communities? We don’t have any services, because they’re all being allocated to the Inuvik region. I’d like to ask the Minister again: when will we see an improvement in services to elders in our communities instead of having to export our seniors out of our communities to programs and services offered by the Department of Health and Social Services?
What I was suggesting is not a centralization in Inuvik. I support the idea of decentralization. What I’m saying is that we have to avoid duplication. If we built the same facilities in all communities, that’s not going to work. We can’t afford that. What I’m saying is that Aklavik has a growing elderly population, and as much as there are elderly who can live relatively independently with support from the community, we need to have a facility there that meets that need. We don’t have that in Aklavik right now. I’m willing to work with the Member to put that into a planning process so that we are prepared in the long term, when we know that the need for a larger and more independent facility in Aklavik will be necessary.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Before I go any further, I would like to remind Members of the length of question period and supplementary questions and answers as well. We’ve got 20 minutes gone on question period, and we’ve only done two Members, so please respect the time.
The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
