Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to my Member’s statement on the delivery of programs and services. In most cases these are essential services, regardless if it’s a nurse or the Joe Greenland Centre care for elders.
I’d like to ask the Minister, there have been petitions filed in this House, there have been motions passed in this House. You realize that some 500 people signed petitions that were tabled in this House requesting that we save the Joe Greenland Centre. I’d like to ask the Minister what the government is doing to ensure that we sustain that facility, sustain the programs and services for the people of Aklavik. The same thing applies to the people in Tsiigehtchic with regard to the Nursing Program.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he could give me an update on exactly where we are with the Joe Greenland Centre, and are we living up to the commitments that were given by the previous Minister at a public meeting in January.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to the Joe Greenland Centre, the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority has transitioned their full-time care programming at the Joe Greenland Centre to the Elders Day Program and Expanded Home Care to support Aklavik seniors to live independently in their own homes. These expanded programs are up and running. The commitment for $350,000 out of the current budget to be maintained for the provision of home care and supported living is being honoured. The wing that has residents in it is going to be continued to be kept up and running, and the eight units in the west wing which were previously administered by the authority are going to be renovated in order to provide additional independent seniors living.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he can give me an exact breakdown of that $350,000 and are those positions fully activated. If not, when are you intending to have those positions filled and the programs and services that you mentioned being delivered on the ground?
Yes, I can provide that information to the Member and I’d be happy to do that.
Again, I think we have to realize as government that we do have some challenges in the Northwest Territories on program services. Again, it’s essential that these services in our communities aren’t clawed back, taken away, or deleted altogether. That’s the frustration of the community of Aklavik.
Joe Greenland Centre has been a level three facility for many years and served many people throughout the Northwest Territories. By simply deleting that program and putting in something that is simply a care program, I’d like to ask the Minister -- I know there’s a lot of people out there asking for program services -- what are you doing to protect the programs and services in our communities and making sure that we have long-term sustainability of these programs and maintain the programs at the levels, if not enhance those programs so that we receive the same programs throughout the Territories.
In this particular case -- and I appreciate the Member’s broad concern about having basic services in communities -- in some cases communities don’t have services that larger centres have. In this case with the Joe Greenland Centre, as I’ve indicated, we’ve honoured the commitments that were made. We’ve brought other home support workers staff on board. We’ve expanded the home care support and assisted people to stay in their own homes. We’re going to honour that commitment.
Across the North we’re challenged with trying to meet all the demands that are there with the resources we have, but in this particular case we worked closely with the community to honour those commitments.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I know Joe Greenland is a unique problem, but I think that problem appears all through the Northwest Territories. A lot of our communities, like McPherson where we have 120-something elders over the age of 60 -- that’s a large portion of our population -- need these type of programs. I’d like to ask the Minister what he’s doing to expand the respite care program, the care programs for elders throughout the Northwest Territories, especially in a lot of our rural and remote communities.
There was some funding available in the budget that was recently passed to look at expanding respite services outside of Yellowknife. It was a modest amount of money, but it was a start. As I’ve indicated in this House to the many questions that we’ve had and requests for program enhancements, be it midwifery or addiction services or other facilities to be built or other program areas, as we all know, as I indicated in my fiscal update as Minister of Finance, we have significant fiscal constraints that precludes us at this point from engaging in any significant new program expansions. Keeping in mind as well that we’re only four months from the end of our term and we’re building up the work for the new Assembly to consider as they set about setting their priorities and looking at the budget for 2012-2013.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
