Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories provides tremendous support to seniors. We have some of the best seniors’ benefits in the country. The Minister of Health and Social Services has indicated a willingness to work with the NWT Seniors’ Society to look at a regional type of games that would maximize the ability of seniors in the communities to actually get out and take part in an event much more egalitarian, much more widespread. That’s the focus, and business plans will come forward reflecting that commitment. The

Minister has already made that commitment in this House. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate our thespian Minister with his full-of-interest and wonderful-sounding answer. Of course, if I had time today I’d ask [email protected] the question about how we can do this, but the reality is the fact that we have to get the money from the Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, they’re not asking for a lot of money and the government seems to keep turning around and saying it should be regional only. Mr. Speaker, what is holding this government back, from a finance point of view, of finding a way to find $50,000 in our $1.3 billion budget? Thank you.

The reality is that there are far more needs than there are resources. The reality is we make choices every day. The reality is that the focus of the government is on working with all the seniors in the Northwest Territories in all areas of their need, and when it comes to the recreation piece, the interest has been and the indication is that we do a lot of work at the regional level to maximize the involvement of seniors in the communities often who never get any other opportunity to take part in an event such as the regional games.

That’s the focus. I think it’s a very good idea, it maximizes input and that is what the Minister has committed to working with communities and the NWT seniors to try to make a reality. Thank you.

Well, if I may offer some reality, as well, because I would like to believe the Minister that this is the only reality, but I’m not sure I’m prepared to be deluded in that direction of lack a little faith on how good these things can be.

Mr. Speaker, the last Canada 55-plus Games brought about 100 participants and about 50 percent of those participants were from the communities. So this is a territorial initiative. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance, because he talks about finances and money not being available, how much money does this government make off interest base alone of our capital budget that isn’t spent? Wouldn’t there be enough money on interest alone to cover the costs for our Seniors Games? Thank you.

The issue is about choices and resources that we have and decisions to put the money to the best use for the maximum number of people. That is what we’re talking about, and we are. We are making a conscious effort in some areas to go into debt, there is no doubt about that, on the short-term basis to fund some of our capital to keep our priorities moving.

In this case, we’ve made a choice to look at putting the money to get max amount of involvement by

seniors at the regional level and I think it’s a good focus and the more seniors we keep active, the better.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really like the last comment from the Minister, which is the more seniors we can keep active, the better. Well, Mr. Speaker, there’s no proof that this isn’t just as good. So I’d like to ask the Minister, is it his individual policy position that this is not a go for seniors or is he going to work to see if he can find a way to turn this into a reality? Because it’s time we give our seniors a treat and stop tricking them. Thank you.

The reality remains, as we’ve said, the focus is going to be on regional type of games, working with the NWT Seniors’ Society and communities to get as many seniors as we can involved. The Member indicated there’s no indication that this isn’t any better, there is no indication that it is better. We know that we can get far more involvement by focusing on working with the communities and the Seniors’ Society. That’s where we’re trying to put the resources we do have available in this area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that recent developments of the H1N1 swine flu shows how fast it can affect people and, God forbid, communities, Mr. Speaker, and given other medical conditions deteriorate in a matter of months, will the government commit to providing double the doctor visits and detailed in policies with the Minister of Health and Social Services in our small and remote communities? I’m not just talking about Nunakput, Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about the Beaufort-Delta and Nahendeh and Tu Nedhe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently for the Beaufort-Delta region, doctors’ visits are scheduled for every five weeks. I do understand that under certain circumstances and weather conditions that doctors’ visits are longer than five weeks. Part of the Foundation for Change Action Plan speaks to an NWT medical model where we could have more flexibility to enhance doctor coverage in small communities and I look forward to working with the Members on the other

side through that process so that we can enhance doctor coverage, especially in small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve been pretty flexible lately. These past two years I’ve been here trying to work with her and she is doing a good job, Mr. Speaker. Given that the medical staff is in demand all over Canada and the Northwest Territories, and the small, remote communities are always left behind during staffing problems, Mr. Speaker, I’m asking the Minister of Health and Social Services to provide Nunakput a listing of how many medical positions have been budgeted for Nunakput, and how many positions are vacant, and what the ministry to planning on doing in response to the additional strain placed on the system during these demanding times. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I agree that the Member has been flexible for the last two years. What I meant is that our medical model is not as flexible to respond to the needs of our communities. Mr. Speaker, right now we don’t have a permanent doctor in our NWT communities and regions other than Yellowknife and Inuvik. In all other places, even if there are doctor PYs funded, we’re just not able to have permanent doctor residents. We’re lucky in the Beaufort-Delta that we have Dr. De Klerk and his staff and he attracts a following, so to speak. I believe there are about six to seven doctor positions there. The challenge is recruiting and retaining them. So when I’m talking about flexibility, the physicians have shown interest in creating an NWT medical model so that we could hire doctors and then give them incentive to travel to smaller communities so that we could have better coverage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my people in my riding don’t see doctors probably within six months, say, for Sachs Harbour. I have two elders sitting in Edmonton in the hospital because of not being seen properly and it being dragged out.

So now they’re having to be in long-term care, one of them, and one of them is going to take months for his recovery, Mr. Speaker. This is unacceptable. This government, we have to...She has to take the lead and direct her staff to get into the communities for longer periods of time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I was in Sachs Harbour with the Member when we discussed this. I believe they had some issues with flight schedules and such, so they didn’t have a doctor right before last Christmas for about two months.

Mr. Speaker, the rule is that all of the communities in the Beaufort-Delta have to have a doctor in five weeks. They know the rule and they are to follow

that, and when they are not able to do that, they need to step up to the plate.

The second thing is, Mr. Speaker, we do have a good Medical Travel Policy, where there is no doctor coverage in the communities, nursing staff is tasked to examine the patient and make the referral.

I do appreciate the Member’s concern. We need to keep on working to improve the system. The Foundation for Change Action Plan has very precise action plans that will work to advance this further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These next few months would be really serious in regards to the H1N1 flu pandemic. I really wish that...No, I’m not going to wish; I’m going to tell her, Mr. Speaker. I want my people to be treated just like people are down here in the South Slave in regard to doctor visits and being taken care of properly. Thank you.

With respect to H1N1, I need people to know that when they’re watching the national media, the only thing they need to get out of that is we are doing much better than down south.

Mr. Speaker, it’s really important for people to know that we have enough vaccine for everybody who needs it, wants it, in the NWT at hand. We’re not looking for any other supplies, so no one has to wait for Christmas. We’re not asking anybody to hold back. In fact, we are asking people to go in and get vaccinated, so that’s another message.

The third one is, everyone is a priority in the NWT. We have no priority list. I just need people to know this, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to small communities on the H1N1 issue, I realize that the most media coverage is on vaccination of Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Norman Wells. But I would like the Members to know that this week we began vaccinating in 14 other communities beyond those six communities. So right now, in day four, we are vaccinating in 20 out of 33 communities and those include: Deline, Fort Good Hope, Fort McPherson, Fort Resolution, Hay River Reserve, Jean Marie River, Lutselk’e, Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic, Tulita, Whati and Wrigley. So I just want the Member to know that we’re working all out to cover small communities, and obviously it’s not possible to vaccinate 40,000 people at once, but our people are certainly trying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For a long time we’ve been waiting for a new hospital in Hay River and it finally seems like maybe this is going to actually be a reality. One of the first steps is to identify a suitable location for the hospital. Where it is currently located is fraught with all kinds of problems. It’s in a fairly densely populated residential area, and there are issues with the hospital. It is old and there are issues. So I think the game plan is to go with a new hospital, but now to find a location for a new hospital.

Where the current hospital sits, there are geotechnical issues. It sits on a ravine and there are major problems with that.

Two other locations have come to light, and we’ve been briefed on those. But, Mr. Speaker, the one that seems like it is the best and the most accessible is currently occupied by the departments of ENR and ITI. That’s where they have their warehouse and their offices, all rather old rundown buildings. They’re sitting on about 25 acres of prime riverfront property in Hay River. Anyway, we want that land for our hospital, so I would suggest that the Minister, Mr. Speaker, may need to lobby the Ministers of ITI, ENR and Public Works and Services and get that land for our new hospital. I’d like to know, has she made any steps in that direction and how is it going. Does she need any help? Thank you.

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