Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Statement delivered in aboriginal language and then in English.]
I would like to talk about the elders facility in Fort Resolution. As you know, Mr. Speaker, I have raised this issue previously, and it is a very important issue for the communities.
Currently, ailing elders are sent out in the community for care and assistance. With some effort by the government and the community the situation can be changed to allow the elders to remain in the community. This is something the community has been requesting for a long time.
Mr. Speaker, I know this facility would require some renovations to meet the special needs and codes required for such use. When elders are sent away, costs are incurred. These costs could be converted to cover the costs of upgrades and caring for and providing assistance to elders who remain in the community.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, there will always be cases where the elder must be sent out, but for the most part many of these elderly patients could be cared for in the facility by the community, by local workers and the families. Leaving the community means leaving the comfort zone they have been used to all their lives. Many times they are placed in a completely foreign and impersonal environment. Family and friends do not have the means to travel and visit, leaving the elders alone for extended periods of time and staying with only strangers.
Mr. Speaker, the support of family and friends plays an important role in the day to day well-being of the elders. It’s no secret that without this support, the condition of many of these elders soon gets progressively worse. Eventually their will to live is gone. Recently we had a case where an elder was moved to Yellowknife. He and his wife of 55 years were inconsolable. When they finally got to see each other, all they could do was hold each other and cry. In this day and age this cannot be the best government can do.
Mr. Speaker, I know we are in the environment of cutbacks, but some costs are necessary, and this is one such situation. As the government it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure the elderly are properly cared for in their home communities and that the dignity to live out their final days in their own environment is not taken away from them.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
