Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want our government to start thinking about creative solutions on how we are dealing with the needs of persons with disabilities. Our projected costs for this fiscal year are more than $2.3 million just in adult placements in southern placement facilities. That is for 27 adults with disabilities, Mr. Speaker.
In the past, the people of Rae have tried different ways to support their own people with disabilities in the North Slave region. What we really need is a facility for the people so that they can remain in the North.
In Rae, our friendship centre has a Life Skills Program for young adults with disabilities. This program is welcomed by the community with five regular attendees and four who attend less frequently.
However, Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to get funding for the program and it always tends to be underfunded. Here is a program that is well received by the community, doing good for the residents and yet the financial support is very slack.
By giving people with disabilities options to stay in the community, they can still have the support of their families. Also, they can have access to cultural activities.
I will quote from a questionnaire done for needs assessment: "I can't trap and spend time in the bush. I would like to do that but no programs allow me to."
Elder parents of these people in need are worried what will happen to them when they pass on. Most of the people sent south have very high needs, according to the Northwest Territories Council for Persons with Disabilities. About 60 percent of persons with moderate to severe disability in the Northwest Territories have multiple disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, 32 percent of them have a learning disability. According to a needs assessment done in the Northwest Territories, the majority of people with disabilities need special aids or support in daily living. We want to encourage participation in the communities and it is difficult to participate in the community when they are living 1,800 miles south of it. That is what the people want. It takes a community to raise a child. Some people were sent to the facilities and they cannot be raised as a community. Others have been sent out as adults and those are the ones we want to return.
I want to let you know that the people of North Slave want to see a facility built in the region. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions on that later. Thank you.