Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to jump on the energy debate later on in the motion, but for now I would like to speak today in support of an assisted living program in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, this would be for those in our communities with disabilities or health conditions who don't require constant medical attention and can live an active, independent life away from more expensive institutional care if they could only get some help for a few hours a week to take care of their basic everyday needs.

Mr. Speaker, a case in point is one young, very intelligent woman in my constituency who is almost completely blind. She does quite well taking care of herself, but she can't do everything. She needs help with getting groceries once a week and help with cleaning her apartment, especially getting rid of garbage down the stairs. When I visited her, she spoke of the difficulty of using her vacuum cleaner. She also had problems with her freezer, which had to be taken care of by third-party intervention.

Mr. Speaker, she gets volunteers and assistance from the Council for Disabled Persons, but without an established program of assisted living, it's asking a lot to expect the volunteers to do all these chores constantly. Same goes for the extended families. It's especially more taxing for those who don't have any extended family in the city, Mr. Speaker. I could tell you that such assisted program could also be helpful for seniors, as well as other people with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, I am aware that there is a full-time assisted living with those who are severely disabled, but it seems that there is not anything if you're not completely disabled and I think it's in the interest of the government to set up a program for those who can live on their own but need some help.

Mr. Speaker, I think it's very important to point out that this is quite separate from home care and respite care that the government currently provides, but I know that a lot of extra demands that are being put on the home care and respite care are something that should be expected to do through those programs, but one that could be addressed by such assisted living scenario. I know the resources for the government are limited, but I think that in the long run this will be more economical in that we'll be able to keep these people out of institutional care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause