Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like a commitment from the Minister that, first of all, would she be willing to sit down with this constituent of mine and me to go through this matter so she can hear from the family’s point of view what they went through. As well, there was a commitment to follow up in writing to this constituent. When I called her a few minutes ago, she said no one has done that. Can I get that cleared up here today? Thank you.

There must have been some kind of mix-up because I do have a letter in front of me that we sent to the constituent on January 15th that was copied to the Member. I would be happy to follow that up and make sure that the Member has a copy. Yes, I would be happy to meet with the constituent, if that’s what the MLA and the constituent wishes, and also follow up with the hospital to make sure that the concerns that she has brought up are being addressed.

I do want to add one more thing that some of these problems that Members, I mean the constituency bring, point out to problematic areas, but we also get e-mails from people who have very excellent service from Stanton. I just want to make sure we put those two in perspective. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to ask another question about the highway, but I have to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services this because this issue has caught my attention, because recently I had a constituent staying at Stanton Hospital and I heard exactly the same story where this person came into their room. They felt like their privacy and their space had been invaded. They were told exactly the same thing: Oh, that person needs to stay in this room and that’s why they keep coming back to this room. My gosh, how long has this person been in the hospital? Are they still there?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The incident that I am aware of happened somewhere in December and we followed that up just before Christmas. It’s the time that the constituent contacted us. I followed up with the constituent in January and I will look to see…Perhaps we are just talking about one incident where it looks like this person…I understand this person used to stay in the room that the constituent’s mother was staying. So I will inquire as to what happened and what measures are taken to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the incident that I speak of has occurred within the last month. So this is not something that happened back in December. This wandering patient that we seem to have at the hospital, it would be interesting to know if they are still the hospital and how many different rooms they stayed in because I got exactly the same story passed on to me by my constituent saying at the hospital. Staff said, I’m sorry, this gentleman used to stay in this room and that’s why he was in your room. This is just something fairly recent. So maybe the Minister could investigate for us and get back to us on whether this individual, this wandering patient, is maybe a permanent resident of the hospital or something and how many different rooms did they stay in. Thank you.

I will undertake to inquire with Stanton Hospital to see what details we could get respecting the privacy rights of patients that stay there, but I will undertake to get to all the Members in confidence what information I can get. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. In my statement, I made reference to a senior who was having some housing problems. They received a house from the Housing Corporation through one of their programs in 1996, 12 years ago. Since then, the elder was telling me they have gone through four stoves, three fridges, washer and dryer and they complain to the Power Corporation that there was an electrical problem with the unit when they moved in. Today the elder, through her family members, purchased the washer and dryer and fridge and stove and again the same problem happened just recently. Again, the elder used her residential school money to purchase these things. She cannot afford to continue to purchase these appliances in her home. Mr.

Speaker, this is a Housing Corporation package that was provided to this elder. She is a widow. She’s living on a pension. It’s a serious problem. So I would like to ask the Minister of Housing is there anything your corporation can do to assist this elder, knowing this is a Housing Corporation package and when people move into these homes, there are certain inspections done, electrical, mechanical and whatnot. Yet, there seems to be a very serious electrical problem. What can you do in this case? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are probably a number of things that the individual can do. The house was built in 1996. It may be time for the individual to look at doing an assessment, especially in light of the numerous electrical problems. I guess they could call in an electrician to come in and do an assessment. There is Arctic Energy Alliance that is also available to see if there are any malfunctions with the power surges or things of that nature, or they could come to the Housing Corporation and apply for some form of assistance if they think that would help them alleviate some of the challenges they are facing. Thank you.

That’s exactly what this elder has done. She’s gone to the Housing Corporation, she’s filled out applications, she’s asked them to come in to inspect her home and I believe I also went in and inspected her home with people from the Housing Corporation in Inuvik. Today, 12 years later, this problem is still there. I know, as a corporation, I feel they do have some responsibility here if you can prove these electrical shortages have caused these appliances to falter. They do have a responsibility. Can the Minister personally look at the possibility of having someone from the Housing Corporation go into this elder’s home, bring an electrician along with you because there are no electricians in McPherson, and do a thorough assessment to get to the problem? You have the people; you have the tools; get it done.

Mr. Speaker, we certainly could have someone talk to the Member to see what the individual’s situation is. I would have to be convinced that there is only her living in this unit if they are utilizing $300 or $400 worth of power. That’s an excess of 900 to 1,000 kilowatts for one individual. I can certainly commit to have somebody get the name from the Member and we can follow it up. Mr. Speaker, the warranty period for these units are usually one year, so the warranty has expired on that unit, I would expect. Thank you.

Regardless of whose home it is, when you have an electrical problem that is shorting out your appliance, there is something wrong with the system and you have to pinpoint the system. It could be the Power Corporation with regard to the meter system that’s being used, the electrical box or not having the unit grounded right. I mean it could be a matter of things, but again until people actually physically go in there and do the review and inspections and electrical costs…Again, we are talking about a widow who cannot continue to afford to maintain a unit, pay this kind of money replacing her appliances every other month or year, it’s costing this person a lot of money just to live in that home and maintain it on a pensioner’s income. Will the Minister personally get involved with myself and try to get to the bottom of this so we don’t continue dragging this on for another 12 years?

We have a very generous program when it comes to seniors. We provide up to $90,000 in repairs. We remove most of the restrictions. We’ve removed the barriers that required only one-time application so the seniors and others can reapply. I am personally not going to go and start checking electricity in units. I certainly can commit to look at the situation. We can get the Member’s cooperation, give us the name. I’d have to be convinced that the person applied and didn’t get accepted if they are only making $1,000 a month, Mr. Speaker. Our programs are designed to accommodate the seniors and I would have to look at the details of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he has a heart for our elders with regard to our communities, because this elder didn’t come to me because she didn’t have a problem. She came because she’s got a problem. As MLAs, we have an opportunity to serve our constituents. If that’s the reply we are going to get from the Ministers, no wonder our elders are coming to us to try to solve their problems. So I would like to ask the Minister, could you have someone from the Inuvik office drive to Fort McPherson, go into this elder’s home and see what this corporation can do to help this elder?

That’s not the question he raised with me asking if I would personally look into the issue. I said I’d commit to having our staff do exactly what he’s saying. So I think he’s answered his own question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Medical travel provides for a medical escort for somebody who needs assistance for their physical reasons or those who need interpreting services. As far as I am aware, the medical escorts would get per diem for the services they provide. So I will look into…If there is some detailed information on that individual situation, I would be happy to look into that for the Member. Thank you.

Yes, I would be pleased to follow up with the Minister on this particular issue because the issues that are raised with me are there is no per diem. They are coming here with little or no money for two days at a time. So I am just saying we need a strategy. These people are actually interpreting, so maybe a per diem could be for the interpreting, not so much for the escort. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.