Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Elders
One general observation about our meetings with elders was just how pleased they were that someone was interested in their situation. We got the feeling they seldom have a chance to talk about their needs and concerns.
There are growing numbers of elders in the region. To ensure that their needs are taken care of, planning is needed. Home care is seen as a preferred method of supporting elders who want to continue to live independently. Supporters noted that it is cost-effective compared to institutional care and results in better quality of life for elders. There were calls for the expansion of home care service in Hay River and for its establishment in Fort Simpson.
Concerns were expressed that current line-by-line funding arrangements allowed little flexibility to hospitals which also operate home care services. They cannot transfer funds to home care if demand warrants. As well, they may find themselves in a conflict of interest in such a situation. It was noted that if there are empty beds in the hospital, the institution may be hard pressed, from a financial point of view, to encourage care of patients in their own homes.
When institutional care is required, speakers called for regional access to level III and IV care. Elders living in the lodge in Fort Providence had ideas as to how their situation could be improved, pointing out some repairs needed in their facility. The elders asked that their smokehouse be moved and a wood stove installed in it, so they would be able to use it to prepare hides and to cook their own food when the weather was nice. There were calls to free up more of the staff's time to care for elders and for more collective preparation of food as is done in Rae. Elders we visited in the Hay River facility wanted more recreational activities and more field trips. Woodland Manor staff need funds to operated their donated van so they can take their residents out into the community.
Lodge residents wanted more country food to eat. Lodge staff said that they wanted to provide it but that there were some difficulties. Precautions need to be taken to ensure that the meat is safe. For example, we were told that wild meat had to be brought from Yellowknife as there is no way to get wild meat inspected or processed locally in an approved facility.
It was also pointed out that institutional beds need to be available to offer respite care for elders and others being looked after by family members. This would give such family care givers an occasional break and help prevent burnout and possible subsequent institutionalization of the elder. Calls were made for training to be offered to family members on how to take of elderly or disabled family members at home.
Many elders wanted more flexible access to health care. House calls were mentioned as one way to deal with the problems they encountered in getting to medical appointments. Many elders required transportation to medical and other appointments in order to maintain their independence. Some wondered why GNWT vehicles could not be made available to provide such transportation.
Elders also commented, as did others, about turnover of medical staff. One commented that she was tired of being a guinea pig for newly graduated doctors. There were suggestions that turnover played some role in cases of misdiagnosis of diseases such as cancer because medical personnel did not have the chance to get to know their patients. Cross-cultural training and community orientation were recommended for new medical practitioners. One person suggested that local health committee members could play an important role in this regard.
As we heard in the Keewatin, people had concerns about medevacs of elders. They wanted better briefing for patients and their escorts before the trip. They wanted to be sure that the escort could interpret for the elder and was assertive in dealing with medical personnel so that the patient clearly understood what was being said or done to him or her.
There were complaints about the seniors' wood subsidy. People told us that five cords were not enough to heat elders' homes throughout the entire winter. We were told that some elders left their homes and had to move in with relatives when the wood ran out. Such comments suggest that there is significant misunderstanding about the intent of this subsidy program.
If the wood subsidy is not intended to meet all the fuel needs for elders living in their own homes, then that fact needs to be clarified for recipients and their families and communities. Then if elders need more fuel, other ways could be found to gather the additional wood that they need to make it through the heating season.
Children And Youth
Young people who spoke to us shared a common concern that there were not enough constructive and fun things to do in their communities. They spoke of barriers that prevented them from enjoying activities, such as lack of public transportation or the costs of recreational programs. In each community youth called for a safe place that they could hang out. Most agreed that alcohol was readily available and that many weekend activities involved drinking.
Youth were concerned about others too. They wanted to be sure that single parents get the child care they need in order to be able to finish school and that victims of family violence have local safe shelters to which they can go.
Some wanted more information about all aspects of sexuality. They wanted more than just pamphlets; they wanted to talk to someone. Some who had gone through a week-long workshop on the topic spoke very highly of their experience and wanted more of these types of forums
Both children and adults raised concerns about child welfare. It was suggested that there was a need for more prevention measures such as family support. People who tell Social Services about children who need help should be told what action has been taken to investigate their complaint. To ensure quality care for a child while in the care of the department, some suggested that foster parents need to be given more training and support. This was echoed by staff who work with foster parents.
One child abuse counsellor told us, "We spend lots of money responding to the symptoms of (child sexual) abuse such as alcohol addiction but little on the root cause."
People pointed out that there were not enough services available to child sexual abuse victims or offenders. There was a call to treat offenders while they are in jail and afterwards so they can start to heal and not continue to offend. Resources are needed to pay for specialized counselling services to help victims heal. Staff expressed frustration that sometimes they needed to mask the abuse issues and label a client's problem as one of addiction to get the money to send the client for the help he or she needed.
Parents and professionals told us of the lack of services and funding for young people with special needs. We heard how the Deh Cho divisional board of education overspends its special needs budget allocation in trying to meet the needs of students. Despite this additional expenditure, parents told us that their children are still not getting services such as speech therapy that they need. We heard that the needs in the NWT for special services and support for students are 50 to 100 per cent higher than in other jurisdictions in Canada. In one school in the region, about 50 per cent of the students have special needs. There was also concern that assessments on children with special needs are often done in the south and the resulting recommendations cannot be carried out in some communities or are at odds with the NWT policy on inclusive schooling.
Some young people with special needs fall through the cracks. One young adult with a spinal cord injury is effectively trapped in his home. This is due partly to the cold weather and his health. As well, the back for his new electric wheelchair has been missing ever since he returned from picking the wheelchair up in Edmonton over six months ago. The back was to have been shipped two days later, but is still apparently on back order. Without this part, his mobility is restricted as he only has use of his manual wheelchair. His mobility is further impaired by a shortage of drivers and some winter related limitations of the local wheelchair van. Even if transportation is available, there are few buildings in his community that are wheelchair accessible. Finally, his rehabilitation is stalled and his condition is deteriorating to some degree due to lack of physiotherapy services.
A second example involved a young person whose treatment program in the south was shut down in a GNWT cost-cutting move. The youth was brought back to his community where some specialized services that he needs are not available. The youth's parents wondered what happened to the money saved by closing down the southern treatment program. They did not see evidence that it had been invested in providing appropriate services to people with special needs in their community.
The committee supports repatriating northerners with special needs from southern institutions where appropriate, and keeping the money spent on their care in the north. People should not be moved back just to cut costs, however, and then left at home without needed support and treatment services. We need to ensure that the person will at least maintain a comparable quality of life. Respite care is clearly an important service where family members are looking after the person at home.
The need for regional youth treatment services was raised as an issue. We heard of regional plans to act on this and offer such services on a pilot basis next summer.
Problems that arise with custom adoptions came up more than once. Situations were related where various benefits including band membership and child tax benefit were denied to children because the adoption paperwork had not been done.
Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn the next part of this report over to my colleague, Mr. John Ningark. Thank you.