Thank you, Mr. Roland. Madam Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I am going to ask Mrs. Ballantyne to give a bit of background on the funding allocation to Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Ms. Ballantyne. Mr. Roland.

If I could have that commitment made and I look forward to receiving information back regarding that situation. I know before the funding was transferred to the health boards, the government itself used to handle the NGO funding and there were concerns raised back then, but it is an ongoing one. When you compare the facility, the number of beds, clients and intake, unfortunately, in a sense, it is one of the busier ones. So I look forward to having that information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a question with regard to the home care budget, which I notice is staying the same. I am just wondering if the Minister could indicate what her projections are on the draw on home care as we move to having seniors stay in their own homes and try to maintain as many people independent living situations as long as possible. I do note that independent living has gone up about $300,000. No, I cannot add any more today. I noticed that it has gone up, anyway.

I wonder if the Minister could speak to the issue of home care projects. This is a very important program and I fully support keeping people in their own homes as long as possible. Given the costs of operations, the status quo budget is of some concern. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All we can say is we will continue to evaluate the need for resourcing for home care and the demands on it. We recognize that seniors who can stay in their own homes is the most ideal situation for them as long as they can, and probably as well for us in terms of cost. So we will just continue to evaluate over the next few years what the uptake is and whether it is adequately resourced. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Page 6-27. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the same line with regard to the whole thing of home care programs, I think it is important that we continue to carry that out. That was one of the areas that the Minister mentioned that there are gaps in the system. Where is it that this program is not being delivered at this time, especially when it comes to home care?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when I have been previously asked about this, I have said that there are instances where boards are being funded to deliver home care programs and those programs are not being carried out, but as I said, while the review is going on and until all the information is in on the boards that are being reviewed, I would prefer not to indicate where this is happening. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is an important aspect, especially when it comes to our elderly population, that we do have to ensure that they do provide that. In a lot of our small communities, aboriginal communities, they do not have taxis and what not that they need. A lot of them cannot get out. There are people with disabilities, especially elderly people, who depend on this program for them to get treatment or have the nurse or doctor provide different services.

Could the Minister look into the communities that have not been receiving it and find out why it is that they are not being provided with it? I think it is an essential service and it is important that you do ensure that all the people with disabilities and the elderly are receiving that program. It is a very important service to those people in our population.

Again, I would like to ask the Minister, will she make that information available with regard to the program that is being delivered in some cases, but in other cases it may not be?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree with the Member that home care services are very important. We are looking into it through our operational reviews. When that information becomes available, we will be able to share the extent of the problem in a more detailed way. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the overall community health programs, the residents of the communities, that is their first defence to dealing with illness and living healthy lives and what not. It is important that they receive the different programs provided through community health programs.

For elderly people and people in general, nutrition is one area that we can do more to improve by improving the nutritional values that people have, especially with children.

With sugar diabetes, cases are going up and the different statistics are there, but a lot of that has to do with ensuring that we do have programs that can educate people and also make them aware of the importance of nutrition and also the importance of the type of lifestyle they live. We can make a statement, if you change your lifestyle, everything will be okay.

That is the simple solution, but everybody knows that is not the way it works. Would the Minister consider doing a thorough review of the overall community health programs and submit a report back to this House?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes.