Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. St. Germaine.

Thank you, Mr. St. Germaine. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, the assistant deputy...The director of finance, sorry. The director of finance got the areas I was concerned about. I just wanted to hear under health promotions that we would be giving $50,000 for the seniors' game. That's the type of detail I was looking for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to speak again, and just briefly, in support of the dementia centre that the other Members were waiving earlier. I am not sure if this area was covered, but I am well aware, as the Minister is, that he has been working diligently on this file, but we are not going to have the facility as quickly as we need to have it for those who are in need of care, residential care. This is not a new phenomenon. It's just that a lot of elders who suffer from the condition of dementia have had to be housed in medical centres and hospitals. We are just coming to awareness of the necessity of putting them in care designed for their specific needs, which is quite different than the other long-term care conditions.

Having said that, it seems that while we are waiting for this facility to be built, there is support for and a need for a day care program for those families who are taking care of the elderly at home. I think these families are taking care of the elderly for reasons that they want to take care of their elderly as long as possible, and they want to provide them a place and care as long as possible and as long as

they are able to and avoid them from being housed in a medical facility.

They are doing it for their own reasons, but they are also contributing to the public process because government services would be more overburdened if it weren't for the fact that a lot of families are choosing to take care of their own elderly. So there is a partnership relationship that could happen here. This dementia facility is going to be the first one in the Territories and the hope is that this will also happen in other communities. But while we are waiting, I think the government should really look into a day care program to just give some relief to families who are having to take care of their family members 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I know there are lots of people who have people who need 24 hour care, people of all ages. I know the Minister is meeting some of those needs by having this respite care program, and I am grateful that the Minister is extending that and he's supportive of that. There are dozens of families in Yellowknife whose family members are taking care of their dementia elderly. I would like to know if the Minister has reviewed the possibility of creating a day care program for the families who are taking care of the dementia elderly and see if it is at all possible to look into that, whether it's at all feasible. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have been focussing our attention to get the basic issue of social respite up and running on a pilot basis in Yellowknife. The issue of day programs clearly are possible and, like many of the other things we have on our list, it would be dependent on the resources. At this point, we have put the resources we have in this area into the two areas I have touched on, that of the respite care and then some additional assistance for home care and palliative care. We anticipate that the need for day programs will be identified when the authorities come through the business planning process and identify either forced growth or new initiatives that they are making the case for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know this is an area that is not unique to the North. This is an issue that is front and centre across the country as we face an aging population. There is a lot of work being done in this area. I would like to know from the Minister whether any discussions he's having with federal counterparts have any possibilities of accessing some funds to provide resources and assistance to those families who are choosing to take care of their elderly at home. I seem to recall some talk there from various parties in the last election about looking into something like this. Is there anything on the horizon that we could tap into from the federal government that could make it easier for this Minister to look into this program to see how it could become a reality sooner than later? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We've identified through the federal funding that we've had access to the funds to cover off the million dollars that we've put towards the dementia facility. We are still waiting to see what the federal government's position is going to be on all these prior commitments, some that they've agreed to honour: the territorial health access fund and the $42 billion 10-year plan is going to get honoured, but any other funding...At this point, the federal funding we do have access to has been fully allocated and we are waiting to see what the agenda is and what the priorities are for the new Conservative government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Turning the question around, could I ask the Minister whether this is on his list of asks, as the popular saying goes, to his federal counterpart as something we need to look into in the North as we also face an aging population and we are working to keep people out of the medical centres as much as possible? There will be more and more need to take care of seniors and others who either through palliative care, home care or respite care whose interest it will be for the government to keep them out of the medical centres as much as possible with a little bit of help for the family. Could I ask the Minister whether this is on his agenda to push the federal government for a national program and national funding to help us out? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This issue is on our agenda and, as well, it's on the national agenda at the FPT table. The question yet to be determined is what is the priority and where does it fit on the Conservative government's agenda. The PT table is clear. We've mapped out a course of initiatives over the last number of years. We are just waiting to meet, hopefully as early as next week, with Minister Clement to get a sense of what the federal government is going to be saying. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I am going to ask the Minister to have this on the list for further discussion. I hope to see something in the business plan section for day care for the elderly with dementia or some other condition. I think we need to look at the home care, respite care, palliative care and the whole program to see what we want to get done, what we can do, and just to enhance and refine the programs. Hopefully, the Minister can find more resources for that area. Hopefully, he can get some success out of the federal government from his meetings, so definitely on the to-do list for all of us. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. That was a comment. I didn't hear a question there. Next on the list I have Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just with respect to respite care, I have been dealing with it with the Minister on trying to expand it to the communities. Once again, having a good, hard look at it and providing some

innovative solutions to help the families take care of their loved ones in the smaller communities. There has to be a way of doing it, either bringing in a nurse or training local people who want to get in that field. How much more thought has the Minister given with respect to that? Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We've identified funds for 2007-08. We've gotten the issue of respite care off the pilot list funded as a program. We are going to do it in Yellowknife again this year on an ongoing basis, and then we are going to advance it to other communities. As well, we are continuing to work in advancing home care and home support in the communities. We've made some investments in training of home support workers at the college and by 2008-09, it will be up to $600,000 for respite care. So we see this as a clear need that goes beyond medical respite, the whole area of social respite that the Member is talking about. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to another line item in this activity, it's just with regard to emergency shelters and counselling services. I noticed that quite often, once again, we have to send people out for safety first, protection and then some counselling. I see the authorities delegate to the health and social services authorities. How much is dedicated to regional centres if there is any at all? Is the ministry also looking at establishing regional centres? There are teen shelters as well -- that's another big concern -- and emergency shelters. I know that they have them here, but are they looking at expanding to the regions; Inuvik, Fort Simpson, et cetera? Thank you, Madam Chair.