Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the downtown day shelter. I don’t need to go into length to highlight how important it is, but I can’t go by without stressing how important it is to many people who have nowhere else to go. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is such: With the closure of funding – I’ll say it that way – with no scheduled funding in the new year to continue this pilot project going forward, what is the Minister of Health and Social Services’ plan for people who are homeless and have nowhere to go, for the reasons that I’ve already discussed earlier today?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services has done an evaluation on the day shelter and at this time is reviewing the possibility of extending the funding through 2012-2013. The City of Yellowknife has also committed to extending their funding. Unfortunately the third funder on the project, BHP, will not be extending funding for this particular project but spending it elsewhere.
Am I correct to hear the Minister say in the House today that the downtown day shelter will be protected at least for one more year, the 2012-2013 fiscal year? Is this being said clearly today that he intends to keep those doors open?
Yes, that is the intention. The City of Yellowknife has put their money forward to extend the shelter. Health and Social Services has done a review of the service that has been provided, and once that review is done, the intention is to follow the City of Yellowknife and extend the money through 2012-2013.
I want to thank the Minister of Health and Social Services for letting us know this here today, because I’ll tell you there were a number of people who weren’t really sure what the plan was going forward. Today is the first time I’ve heard it’s actually being formally reviewed, so that’s why I was a little bit unsure whether it’s still being reviewed and would there be consequences of longer term funding options. It sounds like the Minister’s plan is to at least carry it through one year, which is great news.
In that review that the Minister referred to, is he also reviewing the type of programming offered at that particular facility? When I refer to programming, I’m looking at specific options for people, plans in the sense of helping people with work plans, whether it’s access to treatment, access to housing, access to employment options. Is that being encompassed in this particular review?
The intent of the shelter was to provide a warm place for people to go have coffee, socialize and so on. There is also the availability in there of some counselling pertaining to possible housing, employment and so on. The John Howard Society is actually the organization that works with the people in the day shelter in order to provide that service.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. A final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to be clear on the record here with the Minister of Health and Social Services, because in a relentless sense we cannot give up on these folks. We may be the only ones who are out there caring for them. We cannot give up. I just want to make sure that this review is focusing on options that will continue the counselling as well as offering treatment paths for people. I just want to make sure that we have a captive audience here, and that will be the mission and continued goal of the Department of Health and Social Services as they support the day shelter.
I’m hoping that the evaluation that the department would do, working with the John Howard Society, looks at continuing the things that the shelter was put there for, with access to washrooms, telephone, Internet and so on, and also some counselling to the individuals who are accessing the shelter, to try and improve their lives.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
