Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the elders’ wisdom and their discussions with me and I want to ask the Minister responsible for Seniors regarding helping out elders in our small communities. It seems that the elders are really in need of some tender loving care and I want to ask the Minister are there any type of discussions within his department, with his colleagues to review looking at the role of the Minister responsible for Seniors and put some real dollars behind that department? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister for NWT Seniors, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. As Minister responsible for Seniors, I don’t have a specific budget under that ministry. However, I have access to budgets within the other departments. So far I’ve been meeting with the NWT Seniors’ Society, the group have fairly regular contact with the Seniors’ Society, and their requests come through me, and then I take those requests and go back to the various departments depending on which department they’re making a request of. So we are engaging the Seniors’ Society definitely. Thank you.
Thank you. That being the case, I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to continue to work with his colleagues, but also maybe come to a point of asking his colleagues saying I need some money, I’m out there begging the Department of Education, MACA, Housing, you know, I need to have some money in my own budget so I can take care of the seniors the way I think they need to be taken care of The Minister has heard a lot of complaints from me about the seniors and I want to know when will this Minister get a pot of money to help our elders rather than go and beg the other Ministers to help him out, to help the seniors? This is ludicrous. Thank you.
Thank you. As the current structure is set up, we do go through the budget process, business planning process, and within the provisions of those business plans and those budgets there are seniors programs from the various departments. So if there is a consideration that those budgets would be pooled and put under the Ministry of Seniors, then that’s something that we would have to have a discussion not only with Cabinet, but I think an open discussion with the entire Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister if he will start that discussion with his colleagues, with the Assembly within the life of this government, start putting together some discussions, some option papers, to see that the Minister of Seniors can have some type of authority, some leverage of funding just like the Native Women’s Association or the youth or the Women’s Secretariat. We’ve got to have some money for the elders secretariat. The elders need that. So I want to ask the Minister is he willing to commit, within the life of this government, to put some discussion papers, have a discussion with us and do what’s right for the elders?
Thank you. In all fairness, we do fund the Seniors’ Society, the territorial society as well as the local seniors’ societies, but I am prepared to have the discussion at the Member’s request. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister indicate to me, make a commitment within this time frame before the next business planning cycle, to come to the House with some discussion papers as to how we could look at creating an elders secretariat that would be fully responsible just for the elders in the North?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I will work towards producing a discussion paper to be shared not only with Cabinet, but the rest of the Legislative Assembly, on looking at consolidating budgets under my responsibility as Minister of Seniors. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 8, written questions. Sorry. I never saw any hands. Mr. Nadli.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7.
---Unanimous consent granted
