Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are in follow-up to my Member’s statement about seniors’ societies. I talked about the Hay River Seniors’ Society and mentioned that recently the Hay River Seniors’ Society applied to the Department of Health and Social Services for funding and was turned down.
I wish that all Ministers would ask on this side of the House what we’d like. If Minister Beaulieu wants to ask me what I want, I want a pot of money set aside by this government that seniors’ groups can apply for and be granted, for activities such as social activities, sports activities, health-based activities. I’d like to ask the Minister, is that something that we can do. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time the funding from the Department of Health and Social Services for seniors’ groups in the Northwest Territories is to the NWT Seniors’ Society which, in turn, works with the seniors’ societies at the community level.
The funding that goes to the NWT Seniors’ Society is project specific. It goes to fund things that are clearly outlined in terms of programming, the NWT Seniors Helpline, and various things like that. There is no money that is given to the NWT Seniors’ Society which then is passed on to a local seniors’ society such as the one in Hay River.
I would like to know if it would be possible to identify funds that could be applied for directly by local seniors’ societies. Thank you.
The Department of Health and Social Services offers a range of programs to all seniors across the territory in all the communities. They range from home care to long-term care, extended care and other seniors’ benefits across the territory. I don’t believe there are any monies actually marked for specific seniors’ societies in the communities, but there is money given to the community for those very seniors. Thank you.
I don’t think anyone could deny that we, as a government, are mindful of the needs of seniors in the Northwest Territories, and the programming that Mr. Beaulieu articulates is correct. There are very good seniors’ programs in place for many different things. However, the seniors themselves like to get together, plan activities, and these kinds of activities give the seniors something to look forward to and there’s a lot of well-being in them being able to get together and do things together.
We fund youth in the communities. Why not seniors? Thank you.
I will work with the NWT Seniors’ Society, which is made up of seniors from all the communities – I believe the president of the seniors’ societies in the various communities for the NWT Seniors’ Society – to see if we could redistribute the money that’s going to the seniors. If it’s possible to put little pots of money into the communities so they can do those functions, I will make note of and discuss that with the NWT Seniors’ president and the society. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Your final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would ask the Minister, if he has time and if his schedule permits, would he commit to meeting with the NWT Seniors’ Society on this matter to get the information from them firsthand on whether these representatives of the various seniors’ societies believe that specific funding for communities would be appropriate. Would he have time to do that? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will meet the NWT Seniors’ Society. I have met with the Seniors' Society once since being appointed the Minister responsible for Seniors, and they know that I’m prepared to meet with them again any time that they wish to meet with me. I think we may actually have a meeting scheduled in a very short time here. I will bring that specific issue up at that time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
