Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We know, Mr. Chairman, that Canada's population is aging and the North is no exception. In fact, the rate at which our population is aging by proportion is a little bit ahead of the curve in Canada and along with that comes an increased incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Mr. Chairman. There are 280,000 Canadians estimated to suffer from Alzheimer's at this time, Canadians over the

age of 65. Another 140,000 have related dementia and by 2030, or 20 years from now or so, that number will approximately triple.

Mr. Chairman, here in Yellowknife in the surveys or information that I most recently am aware of, and I think this is three or four years old, there were 35 people in Yellowknife in the early stages of dementia and another 30 in the moderate to more severe stages.

Mr. Chairman, this has come as no surprise whatsoever to health care officials, but also to the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors, which is a volunteer-driven society which has done a remarkably capable job of promoting and advocating and managing a very fine care facility and accommodation facility for seniors in downtown Yellowknife.

Madam Chair, the Avens facility shares the responsibility for caring for some dementia patients, along with the long-term care unit at the Stanton Hospital, and for the 20 years that I talked about, as I said, Madam Chair, they've been advocating for the construction of a facility that is more properly designed for the care of especially more advanced dementia and Alzheimer's patients. As the incidents of this inevitable disease, for which there is no cure, Madam Chair, as it grows, so do the incidence of more impact and more frequency amongst families, and I am certain it's not just here in Yellowknife but across the NWT.

Our colleague, Mr. Ramsay, earlier today gave a very eloquent account of how this disease has devastated his immediate family and I think we've all heard from time to time in the NWT stories from our constituents, our friends, our neighbours of how this is impacting their elders, their parents, their loved ones.

Madam Chair, as the Northwest Territories grows and matures, we are undertaking more and more sophisticated and more and more advanced types of care and programming for our citizens. Mr. Miltenberger, I think it was today or yesterday, talked about the midwifery services that Fort smith is carrying so well. Madam Chair, in the last day or two, you have talked about the dialysis service in your community in Hay River. As I say, as our communities grow and mature and our range of services expands, so too should we be expanding to include the proper care and I would say the most efficient and economical care of our citizens who are suffering from the ravages of this disease.

Madam Chair, as a Yellowknife MLA, this is on the very top of my list, to see in this community a viable plan, an affordable plan, for establishment of this facility here in Yellowknife. As we have been working on so far, this facility is also deemed to be and will be managed and operated as a territorial facility as we look at designing something very specially, Madam Chair, for the more advanced stages of this disease.

Madam Chair, I had a number of questions that I wanted to ask the Minister in this relation. When was the last time the incidents of Alzheimer and dementia disease was surveyed in the NWT, Madam Chair?