Thank you, Madam Chair. My question to Mr. Todd could have easily been answered by Mr. Ng. However, it can also be asked of Mr. Todd since it is involved with financial institutions.
When families are forced to deal with a handicapped family member, it is always very difficult. It is even more so when this handicapped member is sent to southern Canada as there is no facility in the north that can properly take care of this individual. This being the reason, we are trying to institute a reappropriation of these family members. However, this is very difficult, mainly due to the way this government's financial system operates.
It costs roughly a $100,000 per year to house a handicapped person in a southern institute. Madam Chair, the problem comes when you try to bring this person back to the north. People say let us use this $100,000 to house this person here, within the Northwest Territories closer to the families. However, because these dollars are set aside for southern institutions, if this person is brought back, this money would be put back into a general revolving fund, and is used for something else. Meaning, the Yellowknife Association for Community Living or any other association across the north could not access these dollars to provide the handicapped individual to come into the community.
There is no program available to allow these individuals to come back to be with their loved ones. Can Mr. Todd, with his wisdom, come up with a solution that will allow for these family members to come back to the north, closer to their families, and provide, possibly, a cheaper alternative than to institutionalize these individuals? It is all simply because we cannot find a way to work this into our system. Thank you, Madam Chair.