There are two things being done with respect to long-term care facilities. We know that facilities in Aklavik and some other communities are very old. They need to be renovated. There are some communities without

long-term care facilities. So we are doing a planning study for a long-term care facility. We are looking at a generic design, because we understand this designing and planning study and master plan takes so long to develop. We want to establish a generic long-term care facility for small communities so that as we find the money, we can build them without having to do the whole process over.

With respect to the Dementia Centre, that is a highly specialized dementia care facility that only the residents who need that level of care will be admitted to from all across the Territories. But I want to assure the Member, there are beds in Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Simpson and Inuvik where people with dementia will still be able to live and function. So this Territorial Dementia Centre is designed for the most acute case and we want to make sure that it remains a territorial facility and that all residents, elders and residents, will have access to it fairly and equitably. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a final, short supplementary question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to request of the Minister if she could pass on the message to the residents of the Joe Greenland Centre and, more importantly, the staff of this transitional period, what the process is and, more importantly, the residents, patients and families that this process is out there. Get the message out and get those people aware that this change has taken place and make sure it’s open and transparent so everybody can take advantage of it. Mahsi.

Yes, I will commit to the Member that I will work with the Member to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper, oral questions. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to use this occasion to do a quick follow-up to both a statement and some oral questions I had for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Some time ago I was asking the Minister about an issue, which is abandoned gas stations here in Yellowknife and certainly throughout the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the issue really comes down to this: that gas stations, for whatever reason they are closed, are left as public eyesores and certainly the potential for an environmental mess being there is quite high. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources is: when there is no intent to reopen these abandoned gas stations -- if I may describe them that way -- would he look at creating regulations or rules around this to have to come up with an environmental remediation plan to ensure that they don’t turn into toxic sites? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have been looking at this issue and recognize the policy and legislative framework has some gaps in it. It’s not as strong as it could be, so we are going to be looking at how we bring forward regulations that will allow us to close those loopholes and make a tighter framework. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, may I say I certainly appreciate the answer from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, when can we expect some type of adoption of regulations or plans to recognize this particular problem? I certainly see it as an issue that we don’t need to wait for a contaminated site to cause problems and set off alarms. Mr. Speaker, I would certainly like to hear from the Minister his opinion and, certainly, objective of the department as to when they hopefully will have this plan in place to update the regulations. Thank you.

We

assembled an interdepartmental working group to look at this. We hope that by later this year we will be able to come forward with a plan for next steps. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, since raising this issue some time ago, I have had a number of people express certain support for this type of issue. Again, they see two things, the land and gas station looks like an eyesore. The second issue

was highlighted earlier today, is the fact that the potential for an environmental risk is certainly there.

Mr. Speaker, hopefully this will be the final question on this issue, because I think the Minister is certainly addressing it. Is the Minister open to public opinion on this? Is there a possibility of raising awareness, of looking for some ideas on how to fairly address this problem going forward throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my colleague Mr. Ramsay’s questions about the H1N1 vaccination. Today, before lunch, Minister Lee had approached me and asked if I would join in an immunization of some people who are recognizable, I suppose, in the community, going down to get the H1N1. I very seriously considered it. I rethought it. Interestingly, right after lunch, I got forwarded an e-mail that had gone out to the employees of a fairly large company here in the North, warning employees that if they had egg allergies they should not be getting this. Coincidentally, I have been diagnosed with an egg allergy in the last six months. I would have gone with Ms. Lee.

My question is this: there are a lot of people who are sensitive and allergic to egg. When Ms. Lee indicates that people going for the vaccination can ask questions, I want to know what do the people administering the vaccination ask those people. If I had gone there at one o’clock today, would they have asked me if I had an egg allergy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for the question, because that is very helpful. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that -- and the process will be the same all across the Territories -- when a resident goes to get their flu vaccine, they will be interviewed. They won’t be given a shot right away. They have to identify themselves with their names, to make sure that they have a health card. They will be asked if they are allergic to eggs and if they have any other underlying conditions, and then the resident will be given an opportunity to ask questions. Then, if they are comfortable with that, they will be moved to the next table where they will be given a vaccine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the press release that was put out by the government, it does say that those who plan to line up for the vaccine should not be in a hurry. Health officials say flu clinic staffers will ask people if they have any risk factors such as chronic illness or pregnancy. So it doesn’t actually specifically in this communique speak to the issue of egg allergy, so I hope that even this discussion here on the floor of the House today will raise people’s awareness about that potential issue and, perhaps in the future, communications on this, because it is such a common thing, this could be included in it. As I said, most of the communication between Mr. Ramsay and Ms. Lee centred on the ability of people to ask questions, but I am very thankful and glad to hear the Minister say that that is a specific question which would be asked of those who are seeking the immunization. Thank you.

The previous question from the Member for Kam Lake dealt with the ingredients. I think there is so much information about this vaccine, I think it is helpful for us to get questions in the House. I do my best to answer them, but there is a flu line and public health officials in our Territories are doing their best job to answer us. I just want to get the message out. When a resident goes to the flu clinic, and I would invite them to go there -- I think Hay River is having a flu fair on Thursday -- even if they are not sure if they want to do that or not, the computer screen is standardized, it has a series of questions that they will be asked. At the same time, they could have their questions answered and when the public is comfortable, then they could move on to getting their vaccination. I realize we can’t have all the information out there, but I think that is a fairly regular process. The reason why they asked if somebody is pregnant or not is because a different vaccine can be given to someone who is pregnant. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of ITI in regards to the proposed CANOL Heritage Trail Doi T’oh Park. Mr. Speaker, I tabled some pictures of an expedition that happened this past summer in terms of land rovers from B.C. going way into the proposed park heritage trail. I want to ask the Minister of ITI in terms of his ability to work with the Minister of Transportation or ENR in terms of how do we prevent these types of land rovers from coming into some very sensitive ecological areas in the Mackenzie Mountains in terms of having these land rovers not coming into the Mackenzie Mountains anymore.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand my colleague and the Minister of ENR have agreed to work very closely with people of the community to make sure that we try to reduce this activity as much as possible. When I was in Whitehorse and had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart from the Yukon government, I asked him what, if anything, were they doing to monitor the people coming into the Northwest Territories through the Yukon with ATVs and so on. He has indicated that, as far as they were concerned, it was a public highway and the public is free to enter into the Northwest Territories. I think this is something that we tried to address through the Wildlife Act and so on, but we will be prepared to work with the Sahtu governments to try to reduce this activity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.