Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My earlier oral questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services were on the independent unit in Fort Good Hope. I want to ask, I guess, the Minister of Health and Social Services about the positions that are going to be funded in regards to this unit.
What types of positions are going to be aligned with this new seniors unit in Fort Good Hope in regards to the facility itself?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated previously, at this time we don’t actually have any indication whether new positions are going to be required. The Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority is working with the department to figure out what programs to go in there. The NWT Housing Corp is designed to build it so it has a wonderful space where programs can be delivered out of and that would be where we deliver programs. Once we figure out what programs and services are going to be in there, we’ll have a better idea if it’s going to require positions.
We certainly have positions in the community that we hope will be able to work out of there to provide support to those independent living seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would clarify my question to the Minister. I know the building is going to be built; there is a schedule there. I want to know within… Maybe the Minister won’t be able to answer this question here. Once the building is there, is there a position from the government that’s going to go with the building in terms of how that building is going to be taken care of and the positions with that building? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it’s going to be an NWT Housing Corp building, so I don’t know if there are any plans for them to have any staff in particular. But from a Health and Social Services point of view, there is a space dedicated in that building for programming and we will have our staff that are in the community now utilize that space to help deliver programs. Whether they are permanently located in there or not, that is still a question for consideration with the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority and the department.
As I indicated, once they’ve done that analysis, we will be in a far better position to give the Member an update on that and if additional resources are required, we’ll certainly come through the normal business planning process for that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Yakeleya.
