Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Member for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, barren-ground caribou management has been a major priority for the past five years. In a time when caribou herds around the circumpolar world are declining, we have spent considerable time, effort and resources to conserve our herds.

This work has been done over the years with our partners, including aboriginal governments and wildlife co-management boards. I want to commend all our partners and harvesters for their ongoing actions to help conserve these herds.

Last week Environment and Natural Resources staff participated in the 13th North American Caribou Workshop in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The workshop focussed on aboriginal issues and co-management as well as scientific and technical issues regarding caribou management. The experiences gained here will be useful as we prepare to host the 14th Arctic Ungulates Conference in Yellowknife in August 2011.

Recently we signed an agreement with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation on joint management actions to conserve the Bathurst caribou herd, including harvest limits. The Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board has released its recommendations on caribou management in Wek’eezhii.

Results from surveys last year confirmed that management actions taken from the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose-West herds seem to be working and both populations have stabilized.

Mr. Speaker, I have more encouraging news to report this year regarding the Bluenose-East herd.

Based on results from photo-census surveys done this past summer, this herd has stabilized and the population has recovered to 2000 levels at an estimated 98,600 animals.

Two different survey methods were used this summer to obtain the new estimate of the size of the Bluenose-East herd. The post-calving and calving ground surveys produced very similar estimates of the herd. The new herd estimate is based on the post-calving ground survey. The last survey was done in 2006.

The recovery of this herd is most likely due to good calf survival in the last four years and lower harvest pressure on the cows. The herd did not come close to winter roads or communities in the past several years.

Mr. Speaker, while the increase of the Bluenose-East herd is good news, this herd is shared with harvesters from many regions and we must still exercise caution when recommending management actions for the herd, so it can continue to increase.

The next step will be taken by the appropriate wildlife co-management boards and aboriginal governments. These groups will meet to discuss the harvest target proposed for the Bluenose-East caribou herd by the WRRB in its recommendations report. They will also determine what harvest limitations should be recommended, if any, and how these would be allocated before making recommendations to this government.

We are working with the Tlicho Government to develop a response to the WRRB recommendations. The response will be submitted to the board by the end of December.

With regards to other barren-ground herds, the Porcupine caribou herd, which was estimated to be 123,000 animals in 2001, has been slowly declining for the past 20 years. A new population estimate is expected in the next few weeks.

The Porcupine Caribou Management Board is implementing the management plan and the recently approved Harvest Management Strategy for this herd.

Recent surveys have indicated a rapid and massive decline in the Beverly caribou herd. Early indications from surveys done this year seem to suggest the Ahiak herd is stabilizing. New estimate and trend analysis for both the Ahiak and Beverly herds will be available by the end of December and a joint Nunavut/Saskatchewan/NWT population survey of the Ahiak herd is planned for the summer of 2011.

Mr. Speaker, given the transboundary nature of these herds, management actions must be done in conjunction with a number of parties. The Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management, consisting of wildlife co-management boards established under the Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu, Tlicho and Nunavut land claims agreements, is working on management plans for the Bluenose-East, Bluenose-West and Cape Bathurst herds. These plans will be available in 2011.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will release the 2011-2015 NWT Barren-ground Caribou Management Strategy for public review in the next few weeks.

Mr. Speaker, we have made progress in working together in conserving our barren-ground caribou herds during the past five years. This has not been without sacrifice. But the management actions and considerable investments are making a difference. However, we still have more work to do to build capacity for aboriginal involvement and to continue monitoring recovery. By continuing cooperative management approaches that respect and support traditional values, we will be able to make sure the herds are available for the use of current and future generations and can maximize benefits for everyone from this precious resource. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment recognizes the importance of literacy in fulfilling our vision of healthy, educated citizens participating in a strong and prosperous society. In 2009, we renewed our commitment to literacy by implementing the second Northwest Territories Literacy Strategy. The strategy describes how we will increase the literacy levels of Northerners of all ages, in all official languages. Today I am pleased to provide you with highlights of the new strategy.

Mr. Speaker, in the area of early childhood literacy development, we support family literacy training for practitioners, numerous community-based family literacy workshops and programs, and the development of family literacy resources and promotional materials through a partnership with the NWT Literacy Council. We also funded 19 early childhood programs to develop aboriginal language immersion settings.

In literacy development we funded the Northwest Territories Seniors’ Society and youth centres to host 13 events that brought youth and seniors together to learn from each other. We also held a literacy proposal writing workshop for youth centre staff from 12 communities. In literacy development for seniors, Education Culture and Employment supported seven seniors’ literacy projects in different regions of the Territory.

Mr. Speaker, in the area of literacy development for working-age adults, we funded learning supports for disabled adults, literacy outreach centres at Aurora College campuses, and numerous community-based projects and programs, such as drop-in classes in the Beaufort-Delta, one-on-one tutoring in the Deh Cho, and the development of audio books for the visually impaired in the North Slave.

We funded Aurora College to facilitate distance learning opportunities and to deliver adult basic education at college campuses and community learning centres throughout the Territory. The department also coordinated the ongoing development of adult basic education curricula and resources.

In the area of literacy in the official languages of the Northwest Territories, local organizations developed books and resources in South Slavey, Tlicho and North Slavey. As well, we supported an aboriginal language writers’ workshop.

Finally, in the area of building community capacity to meet literacy needs, increased funding to community libraries permitted an increase in hours of service and the purchase of additional materials.

I want to acknowledge the important work of the Literacy Strategy Advisory Committee. The committee, which represents many of our literacy partners, meets annually to guide our staff in implementing the strategy.

The Northwest Territories faces many challenges in the area of literacy. We still have much work to do but we are on track this year to meet our objectives and carry out the actions of the Literacy Strategy according to the goals of this Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I wish to talk about the importance of respite care in the small communities. Mr. Speaker, in many instances, young couples often take the responsibility for caring for aged senior family members or an ailing family member. This is the same for many grandchildren who live with their grandparents. They too are given the responsibility of caring and doing everything for the aging grandparents.

Mr. Speaker, over the last few days of this sitting, we have heard the Minister talk about changes to the way the government delivers health care, including funding of health services. It is good to hear the Minister responding to feedback, but this has left some confusion with my constituents that I’m hoping to clear up today.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the Minister and her department are doing what they think is best for the interests of the Northwest Territories. However, I am here today to talk about the interests of the people in Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution. Mr. Speaker, we know caring for aged and disabled family members can be a tremendous burden on families and family members. Without the necessary supports, it’s only a matter of time before family members are overcome with burnout or family resources are drained, and then ultimately the family members in need are placed in long-term care facilities and then become an added cost to the government.

Mr. Speaker, last year the Minister stated that we are expanding the program for children and youth through respite care in the communities outside of Yellowknife. Respite care provides planned relief for caregivers, families and people with disabilities. Relief is necessary to decrease burnout and stress and allow caregivers to provide the best possible support, and thereby the best quality of life for those with disabilities. This action focuses on improving outcomes and opportunities for children and youth. Mr. Speaker, my constituents want to know if the plans have changed or the funding for respite for communities outside of Yellowknife will also be cut.

Mr. Speaker, as I speak today, there are families that are doing what they can to ease the day-to-day living of disabled and aged family members in all the communities across the North. These families need parity on what this government is doing. These families need support. These families need help. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be talking about respite services today as well.

Respite services are an incredibly valuable program through the Northwest Territories. Parents who are asking for respite help are not asking because they are incapable of caring for their children, but because while caring so much for their children, they are challenged to care for themselves.

This Assembly and previous Assemblies, the 14th and 15th, have acknowledged the importance of respite. So much so that in March 2005, the current Minister, while she was a Member, made a statement, and I quote directly from the March 2005 Hansard, where the Minister indicated:

“I would like to speak today in support of the Yellowknife Association for Community Living respite services currently funded by the GNWT Department of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, the goal of respite services is to provide safe individual lives and flexible respite support to disabilities, more opportunities for inclusion in community activities. It is an essential support service that provides planned relief for parents, families and the people with disabilities that they care for. Such relief is necessary in order to decrease burnout, stress and family breakdown. It also helps families provide the best possible support and care to their loved ones with disabilities, and it ensures that people with disabilities experience a high quality of life.”

Mr. Speaker, the Member, at the time, went further to urge the Minister-of-the-day to not only maintain services but to expand those services to people on waiting lists as well as communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

I was pleased earlier in the year when I saw the report on the Foundation for Change, where the department indicated that respite services or respite care services for families with special needs and disabled children would be expanded through the Northwest Territories. This was fantastic news. Unfortunately, we all know now that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living program that was funded by Yellowknife Health and Social Services has been cancelled as of April 1, 2011. What I am concerned about, Mr. Speaker, is that the actions aren’t consistent with the words.

Later today I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions on respite and what we are going to do to expand as outlined in the Foundation for Change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fort Liard medical needs. I have stood up many times in this House to request on behalf of the residents of Fort Liard to have their health needs taken care of in Fort Nelson, B.C. This makes sense to them as it is only a two hour drive for them.

In many previous negative responses from the Minister of Health and Social Services, the main reason for not allowing this is that we have a health agreement with the Capital Health Authority of Alberta. Now, recently, it was brought to my attention that there is no longer a Capital Health Authority in Alberta, so I believe that we now have a good opportunity to provide a better and more efficient health service to the residents of Fort Liard.

The way we can do this, Mr. Speaker, is by contacting the Province of British Columbia’s ministry of Health to begin preliminary discussions with their northern health authority as how they can service the needs of the population of Fort Liard. The agreement does not have to be overly complicated. Residents are confused as to why they have to travel down Highway No. 7 for three hours then a one-and-a-half-hour plane ride to Yellowknife, overnight, and experience another lengthy trip home. These medical visits are for tests, exams and minor day surgery, if necessary. This can be accomplished, as I said, with a simple two hour drive on a very good road over to Fort Nelson and they can be home the same day.

Many of the travellers are elderly and youth that require escorts. I really feel that this will even be a cost savings for our health care system. Also with the implementation of the electronic health system, I would say it would be easier to share health records, thereby addressing another concern that the Minister of Health and Social Services has had with working with the B.C. ministry of Health.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to a discussion on this during question period later today. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We see some very sad things happening in our communities. Today I am going to talk about the young man in Tuktoyaktuk who suffered for no good reason.

A few weeks ago he was badly beaten, was taken to the nursing station complaining that he couldn’t breathe, mainly because he was drinking, but they looked at him quickly and took him to the RCMP cells. All night he begged for help and he was ignored. After he was released, he went back to the nursing station on his own and was flown to Inuvik. In the two days that he was in Inuvik, no X-rays were taken and he was flown back home to Tuk but he was still having trouble breathing. The nurse in Tuk sent him back into Inuvik. It turned out, Mr. Speaker, that he had a punctured lung. They had to put a tube in him to drain the blood from his lungs.

This young man is now recovering, but that is more good luck than good work by our health services. He should have not been put in police cells the first night. He could have died. His condition should also have been identified in the first visit to the hospital in Inuvik. Instead he endured five flights between Tuk and Inuvik in a week, Mr. Speaker, before he was properly cared for in the Inuvik hospital. I am not sure how this happened and how such bad decisions were made.

I will be helping this young man and his family to file written complaints to the appropriate authorities. In the meantime, I want to stress to the Ministers of Health and Justice that sometimes citizens are treated more like animals than people, Mr. Speaker. We are lucky to have this young man that lived through this ordeal. Instances like this should never happen again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Minister of Health and Social Services indicated that the Executive Council agreed to rescind the 2007 policy changing supplementary health benefits. The House applauded this action. Today I wish to address next steps.

The Minister indicated in her statements that advancing work on revising elements of the Supp Health Policy will require varying levels of additional research and planning before implementation. This is a significant statement, one that reflects a longstanding message of many Members and committees that have dealt with this subject. I fully support this intent. The Minister said she will focus on modernization of the existing policy framework, develop policy proposals to require the use of third-party insurance and develop a pharmaceuticals strategy.

Most importantly, there is a commitment to get in place supplementary health coverage for those working poor not currently covered, and an expectation of a federal cost analysis of all measures will reveal savings to cover the costs of ensuring the working poor are covered. I fully support all of these. Again, Mr. Speaker, I am with the Minister on these fronts and will work to support advancing these goals. However, I wanted to offer some comments and cautions towards smooth and steady progress on these issues.

First, I want the Minister to recognize that when Members and committee offer comments and make recommendations, especially those made repeatedly, it will save time and energy to respond positively and thoroughly to that input. It may seem like causing a delay, but ultimately our goals are the same: timely implementation of cost-effective policy in this most important area of the health of our people and our families.

Secondly, bring proposals to committee for input as early as possible. We consider ourselves consensus partners here and a critical voice for the people. Committees will be meeting in the near future and should be considered as a first good opportunity to begin this process. When the Minister says she will move forward “as quickly as we can” or “immediately begin working with,” I want the Minister to have Members and our committees in the front of her mind as an automatic go-to partner.

Mr. Speaker, I usually appreciate the Minister’s decisions on supplementary health as recently elucidated and I look forward to a collaborative approach and making progress on this issue together, and, Mr. Speaker, I’ll be speaking on the respite policy later today. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to again speak today about respite care and the decision to cut the $250,000 required to fund the program.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, after making a statement on respite care funding reductions, I had the opportunity to again question the Minister on how this decision was made, why this decision was made, where the money was going and ultimately who made the call to cut the funding. Judging by the response I received to my questions, the Minister seemed to have absolutely no clue in how to answer those questions about the cuts to respite care funding, except to say that health and social services is in a deficit situation.

Mr. Speaker, this is true. However, for the Minister to imply to me that this is the sole reason for the cut to respite care programming dollars is a solid indication that this Minister just does not seem to remember her solid support for respite care while a Regular Member, or her proposal to committee 18 months ago to fight deficits at our health authorities. What has happened since then, Mr. Speaker? Nothing, zero, not a thing to address the deficits that, I’ll remind the Minister, have been there since she became Minister in 2007.

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister not have a moral and ethical obligation to address the concerns like chronic underfunding, unfunded positions, medical travel deficits and the rising cost of equipment and supplies? These are not new issues. They need to be addressed, not used as a scapegoat to justify funding cuts to respite care programming. The bottom line is, is this is a clear dereliction of duty by this Minister. The problems have not been addressed, they’re not going to just go away, and in the case of the deficits at our health authorities, they’re getting much worse as the days go by. If it’s cuts to respite care today, Mr. Speaker, what is going to be coming tomorrow? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about the benefits of early intervention with people with autism.

The Autism Society of Canada is leading a partnership with organizations, including the federal government, to develop a national autism strategy. The purpose is to address research, funding issues, raise awareness for autism, and certainly lay out best practices for those people who care for their children and family members with autism. The strategy, I believe, can eventually lead to strengthened support for those individuals and families dealing with autism in the NWT.

As many people know, autism covers a spectrum of disorders: social impairment, communication difficulties and/or restrictive, repetitive and stereotypical behaviour. As everyone knows, early diagnosis is critical. Not just important, Mr. Speaker, absolutely fundamental. Because, correspondingly, early intervention allows for assistance and support of the children who we wish to lead into good lives as they grow into adults.

There is no cure for autism yet, although interventions and medications can treat some of the symptoms. With good intervention and, certainly, support, many of the autistic children growing into adults are able to be full contributors in their independent lives as adults, and that’s certainly a goal of many parents.

We must keep in mind every autistic child is different and needs different supports as they deem necessary. A child suffering from the symptoms of autism will likely need constant care, and lest we forget the impacts it has on the whole family, that would be mom, dad and, of course, the brothers and sisters. Homes may require renovations or additional safety features to prevent accidents, and should we never forget about the much needed respite services many of these parents need to ensure that their health is top of the list as well.

Many good services have been provided to help families in the city and in our North to help care for our children and families with autism. Keep in mind that it’s imperative that we do not neglect the parents again through the respite service process.

As always, more can be done, and I expect more should be done, for helping those families and individuals suffering with autism, because they need to be a full partner in the solution as we go forward.

Mr. Speaker, I will continue to be an ardent supporter of families who are dealing with the autism challenge, and I think this government needs to stand up and clearly show them their support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have about 238 adults in the Sahtu region that are 60 years and older. Some of these adults are considered elders in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, elders’ care in the Sahtu is severely lacking. Gone are the days of families taking care of their parents and grandparents on a full-time basis. Mr. Speaker, families need support to take care of their own in their own homes. However, this type of care puts a lot of pressure on families, because it speaks to the core values and beliefs of a family in our communities. It’s stressful as families have to take care of their own families, go to work, and are expected to be on call 24/7.

Today in our communities we are experiencing more and more changes that show little support to our elders, the very elders that endured extreme hardship and suffering so we can enjoy the type of life we have today. They did not give up on us, Mr. Speaker, and we should return the full payment.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the House that we have elders who need our care today. We have families who need our support. We have communities that want to keep their elders in their own homes.

Mr. Speaker, we need to have a special section within our health care system that meets the needs of our elders. The Foundation for Change document has several areas that should be implemented right away, Mr. Speaker. For example, having traditional foods served at Stanton Hospital, strengthening language services for our elders so that word for word is understood between the doctors and the elders are very clear; no more guessing, Mr. Speaker. More importantly, we need to examine our own beliefs and values towards taking care of our elders from a cultural perspective.

Mr. Speaker, one day, God willing, we may also take on the elders’ roles and hopefully not experience the types of issues that elders are facing today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I again today want to talk about health care programs and funding.

We’re all aware that funding for a valuable, well-used respite program is set to end next March. The impact has been discussed. It will adversely affect parents, but more so, in my mind, is the negative affect it will have on disabled children.

The respite program has provided socializing opportunities for these kids outside the home with their respite worker. They’ve been able to develop relationships with their worker and, more importantly perhaps, with other children.

Several parents have told me that advances in the social development of their child is absolutely because of the respite program. They have an opportunity to bond with and to relate to people who are not family members. The dynamic of such a relationship for an autistic child, for instance, cannot be underestimated.

The respite program run by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living has, to date, been funded by funds transferred to the GNWT by the Government of Canada. GNWT has provided the funds to the local health authority -- Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority in this case -- and they’ve chosen to have the program run by Yellowknife Association for Community Living.

I think we all understand at this point that the current federal funding used for this program was only intended to last until the end of March 2012. What is truly distressing, though, is the program funding is being discontinued one year short of that date. The Minister tells us the second year of the federal funding is to transition to a time when we will have no federal funding. Fair enough. But she has yet to show me a plan for the approximately $7.5 million funding that we will receive next year for 2011-12. Just what is the Minister and the department planning to use the 2011-12 federal funding for?

We hear much about the Foundation for Change but little on the detail of the changes being proposed. The Minister also seems to be telling us that most of the $7.5 million will go to the Foundation for Change. For what, I have to ask.

The Minister cannot expect Members and the public to keep on believing and trusting in her vague statements. We deserve more respect than that. Show us how the 2011-12 money will be spent and if you can’t do that soon, reinstate the measly $250,000 that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living program needs to operate this necessary and valuable program.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can probably tell, this is a bit of a health theme day today and it has a special focus on the issue of respite care, which I want to say I am also very supportive of and recognize the vast importance it is for families who are caring for family members with disabilities or those who are aged. But, Mr. Speaker, I’m going to speak to the health care in the Northwest Territories in a more general sense.

Mr. Speaker, I’m thankful that we live in a jurisdiction that although our systems may be under pressure like all other jurisdictions, we have a government that recognizes health and social services as a priority that consumes over 25 percent of our entire territorial budget for a total amount of over $300 million. Although we attempted to address the needs of diverse communities in far-flung regions of our vast Territory, Mr. Speaker, we rise to those challenges.

Mr. Speaker, the North is a place where it is literally quite possible, when you have a need or an issue, to contact your elected representative or a health care provider at any time of the day or night, and that in many cases those people are not only known to you but you may also very well be known to them. This is an unusual and rare thing, Mr. Speaker, that no matter where you live, when you are in need of immediate or sustained care, no amount of cost will stand between you and the help that you need; that we have professional, responsive health care providers who are part of a network of services to address the health and social needs of Northerners; that we are not called upon to pay from our pockets when we are in need, nor is our need connected to our ability to pay or to our social condition.

Mr. Speaker, when we watch the news of the natural disasters, the wars, the poverty around our world, we see people with no access to health services or even the basic necessities of life. Some may say, well, big deal. This is Canada and we are not affected by such conditions. But, Mr. Speaker, the world is getting smaller all the time and as we see this, Mr. Speaker, although our jobs require us to raise issues in this House, of deficiency, I hope we never lose sight of how truly fortunate we are.

Mr. Speaker, closer to home in Hay River, I’m thankful that this government has seen fit to allocate funding for the start of a major project that will go to improve the quality of life for people in Hay River for many years to come in the form of a new health care facility.

Mr. Speaker, there’s always room for improvement and how we allocate our resources and how we collectively look for the best way to deliver programs and services to our people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be talking about the delivery of care services in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Delta riding I represent has some 35 individuals who were identified as disabled. Mr. Speaker, the special needs individuals, persons with disabilities and, more importantly, the elderly should be receiving this important care. In Fort McPherson alone, I have some 223 elders over the age of 60. Of that, 66 elders are over the age of 70 to the age of 97.

Mr. Speaker, families in our communities are having to take care of their loved ones on their own. Mr. Speaker, that is not the way programs and services should be delivered. In most cases, the individuals have to look for support elsewhere or have their loved ones sent to regional health centres such as Inuvik and the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik, which they call respite care. Mr. Speaker, that is no way to deal with the individuals of our society who should be getting the attention they deserve and the programs and services they require.

Again, it’s important to realize that the question of quality of life to all residents is critical to providing services throughout the Northwest Territories to ensure we are providing respite care services and other services in all our communities where people with disabilities and special needs are located and that they don’t have to be removed from their home communities to receive that care.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on exactly what this government is doing to ensure we have adequate programs and services in all our communities. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some constituents of the Great Slave riding: Heather Oliver who is a constituency assistant for Dennis Bevington, the MP for Western Arctic; John Williston, Peggy Moorhouse, Shawna Stange-Brown, and Elizabeth Purchase. There’s been a lot of turnover in the gallery, so if I missed anybody from the Great Slave riding, welcome, and enjoy the Legislature today.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize the following students in the gallery today who are here as part of the Bring Your Child to Work Day. Sydney Friesen is a Grade 9 student from St. Pat’s and Cassidy Menard is a Grade 9 student from Sir John Franklin. Both are former Legislative Assembly Pages. Both are daughters of Legislative Assembly staff, Donna Friesen and Cheryl Menard.

Also in the gallery is Ryan Gould, who is a Grade 9 student from Sir John. He’s accompanied by his mother Jackie Gould, who’s here as a member of the Executive staff of the Legislative Assembly. Welcome to the gallery. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of mine from Tu Nedhe, William Buggins.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize the following constituents from Yellowknife south: Anne-Elizabeth Fauvel, Annie Strus, Charlotte Curtis, Chris Strus, Lois Burns, Pat Strus, Peter Taptoona, Tammy Krivda, Keeton Hardisty and Samantha Bohnet. Welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome all of the guests that we have here in the gallery today. In particular, I have a number of constituents that are in the gallery today that I’d like to recognize: Ms. Pamela Weeks-Beaton, president of the Yellowknife Association for Community Living; Anghus Beaton, Bridie Kennedy, Connor Beaton, Conrad Wright, Delaney Beaton, Erin Sawatzky, Gugan Sidhu, Mimi Kennedy, Narine Margaryan. As well, I’ve got other constituents I see up there; Joy Watt and Kerry King, as well I’d like to recognize city counsellor Lydia Bardak that’s with us. Welcome to everybody else. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome as part of Bring Your Child to Work Day, Mr. Franklin Carpenter, formerly of Sachs Harbour, formerly of Inuvik and now living here in Yellowknife working for the NWT Housing Corporation. He’s here along with his son Will. Welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

I’d like to recognize a constituent from Deline, Mr. Peter Bonnetrouge, and also I want to recognize some of the fine staff members who work here in the Leg. who are in the gallery with their children.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome everybody in the gallery and, in particular, I’d like to recognize my constituents from Range Lake: Camila Barros, Chelsey Adams and Kelly Handley. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to welcome everyone in the gallery. I’d like to specifically make note of a number of Yellowknife Centre constituents: Andrea Stewart, Keaton Hardisty, from the LeMay family I’d like to recognize James, Lisa, Jo-Jo and Ella. I’d like to recognize Kristy Samuelson and from the Kapolak family I’d like to recognize, Sam, Shayne and Susie. Finally, but not last, Billie-Rae Driscoll. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome everyone.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Allen Barret, David Ross, executive director of YKACL, Kiefer Dolphus, Lenora Barret, Michael and Shauna Henry, the Weledeh school student and all other members from the Weledeh riding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to thank all the people for coming today and welcome them here. I have a number of Frame Lake residents I would like to recognize. Firstly, Dave and Maureen Miller, Dave of CBC fame; and Jessica and Vincent Casey; Katie Miller and my constituency assistant, Kerry King. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bisaro. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the gallery. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In life at times we are very fortunate to meet someone special who shows up in our life to either teach us, give us a push or just to listen. Well, Mr. Speaker, I had that experience in my life, as well as many others too. I recently heard a good friend, Mansell Gray, passed away on October 22, 2010, in Hay River. He was surrounded by many of those he helped and by clergy who prayed for him.

Mansell came north in 1988 and worked in Fort Providence, Fort McPherson and, finally, in Hay River. Later on, in the ‘90s, Mansell was joined by his wife, Elaine, who has since passed. Mansell had numerous jobs throughout his stay in the North, but as an alcohol and drug counsellor he is remembered by a lot of people for helping them get sober, stay sober and live one day at a time. He was very active in the self-help movement in Hay River and the world. He was on 24/7 365 days a year.

Mansell was also active in politics. As a matter of fact, his daughter Deb Gray was once a former member of the Reform Party. However, it was the work with alcohol addictions that always returned him to the people he loved and now we say thank you, Mansell. A memorial service will be held in Hay River on November 6th at the Roman Catholic Church.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services in follow up on my Member’s statement.

I know the Minister is supportive of respite. Her message in the House has been clear, both as a Regular Member and as a Minister. The Foundation for Change is clear: we plan to expand respite services in the Northwest Territories. But then in early October we were sort of surprised, out in left field, when all of a sudden we learned that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living respite program is being discontinued.

I’m curious; can the Minister of Health and Social Services help me understand how the political message about supporting respite, the political support for respite has not trickled down to the department and the authority, where the authority, Yellowknife Health and Social Services, has decided to cancel an important respite program here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I’d like to thank the Members for Great Slave and Kam Lake for looking back in the record and reading statements that I made. I was, and I continue to be, an advocate for supporting persons with disabilities. I fought for and got the respite care program and I was grateful that the government implemented. As a Minister, I have worked to expand the respite program to communities outside of Yellowknife, and it is part of the Foundation for Change Action Plan.

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate that there were some communications that really caused heartache to the families. I don’t think that was necessary, but it has happened. I’d like to just state my commitment to continue to support the families who need the respite care program. It is the intention of the government to expand. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was listening to the radio and there was a report on and there was a representative from the Yellowknife Health and Social Services who indicated that, basically, they’re offering families who need respite an opportunity to enter into a voluntary service agreement, a VSA. To me, this is an acknowledgement that respite services are needed here in the Northwest Territories. Even indirectly, Yellowknife Health and Social Services is recognizing that respite is required. Unfortunately, I don’t believe in any way, shape or form, requiring a family to enter into a VSA through the Child and Family Services Act, which is about child protection… These children aren’t being neglected. They’re not being abused. Their well-being isn’t in question. We’re talking about care of these children for short periods of time.

My question to the Minister is: Given that the authority has acknowledged the importance, can we get them to find some money within the authority or within the department to help actually fund a continuation of respite in this particular organization as well as the Territory as a whole?

I have talked to the Member privately and I’ve responded to any parents that I’ve had a chance to talk to recently, and I say it again, that the Department of Health and Social Services considers the respite care program a very important service, and that I’ve stated in answering questions to the Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins, on Monday, that we have a resolution that we are working on. The important thing is that we work together to get the support that the families need. I intend to do that and the government intends to do that as well. Thank you.

Sounds great. I’m happy to hear a resolution is in the works, but I obviously don’t know the details of that resolution that’s in the works. Does that mean that the Yellowknife Association for Community Living will continue to receive the $250,000 that they need in 2011-12 and ongoing to run the respite care program here in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Right now we have had, over the last number of years, two different care programs. We’ve had one in Yellowknife that the Member mentions and we have been running a pilot project outside of Yellowknife for smaller communities. The government would like to look at the whole program together, because the focus has to be in providing services to families who need the respite care program. I don’t think there is any question here about the importance, and advantage, and the benefit that those programs bring to the children and adults with disabilities and their families. I say it once again, that we are committed to providing a respite care program in the Northwest Territories and we will use the money we have in the budget and look for additional resources to continue to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, I fully believe the Minister when she says she supports respite. I am happy to hear that they are planning to do something. I am going to continue to ask the Minister to commit to finding the $250,000 for the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. Will the Minister commit the $250,000 to keep this particular respite that serves 29 families in Yellowknife and offers high-quality programming and services to help these children socialize and integrate into the community and provide the needed relief to the parents of these children? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member sits on the Standing Committee on Social Programs. The way we fund money and extra resources is to work through that. I intend to come to the committee with the details of that. The focus is to help the families who need respite care not only in Yellowknife but across the communities. We need to look at this program comprehensively. I am willing to do that. I am committed to do that. We have, in fact, increased the money on respite care within the department budget. We do need to address the program with YACL, and I am committed to coming back to the committee with the plan and I am committed, and I say that with everybody in the gallery, that we will continue to provide services to families who need respite care. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. What is the process in investigating incidents involving inappropriate health treatment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a standardized process in addressing complaints and concerns from our residents. They are to speak to the authority management first and then sometimes, or oftentimes it works its way through, upward to the deputy minister level. Mr. Speaker, if it is a complaint about specific conduct of a health care professional, whether it be a nurse or a doctor or therapist or allied health care professions, all of the professional governing bodies have a process on how to address complaints. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, what is the protocol communication between nursing stations and the RCMP when an injured person is examined and released into police care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with the detail of how that works out. I will undertake to get more detail on that. I would need to consult with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned both with the quality of health care and the cost which should be looked at when it comes to the case described in my Member’s statement. I believe the constituent didn’t get timely care and had to fly around unnecessarily. Will the Minister order an investigation of this case? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we could do that. I will undertake to look into that specific situation and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. So how long, Mr. Speaker, would the investigation likely take to be completed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is no set time, but I will make the commitment to review the situation and get back to the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I indicated that there are about 238 adults 60 years and over in the Sahtu and most of these adults are determined by the communities as elders. I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of working with our elders in terms of how we close that gap in terms of providing adequate satisfactory services to our elders as there are some sections in the Foundation for Change that would speak to this issue in terms of programs and services that we could start implementing as soon as possible. Can the Minister give me an indication as to how soon we could start looking at programs and services for our elders in the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Foundation for Change is an action plan for the Department of Health and Social Services. It has a number of things that we need to undertake. But Members here know that we don’t necessarily have the dollars attached to that. The action plan guides our budget planning, capital planning and other decisions we make. We are working to implement the action plan as soon as possible, but the speed and the accomplishment depends also on the money available. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, ever since I have been in the House, I have been asking for basic requests such as providing traditional foods at Stanton Hospital for our elders. Stanton Hospital is 65 percent of our aboriginal patients there. I ask the Minister again, what is she doing in terms of this simple request. I don’t think it will cost too much to have it here at Stanton to provide traditional food for some of our elders that come here for some length of stay. When can the Minister give me a solid answer in terms of this simple request?

Mr. Speaker, on that issue, we have been seeking guidance from the Elders Council of the Stanton Territorial Health Authority. In fact, I talked to the chairperson at noon at an event. He has some proposals to make. We will work with them in where they want to go in terms of addressing better meeting the needs of a large number of aboriginal patients that we serve at Stanton. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have been here for seven years. It has been an issue ever since I became a Member of this House here to talk about some of the issues at Stanton in terms of traditional food. The Minister now is responding to the request. I hope that this request can be implemented by the time we finish our term here. The Minister is right in terms of elderly care in our region is costly because of the travel and the training and the dollars to go up there. I want to ask the Minister in terms of providing care in our communities in the Sahtu. Again, the example yesterday in Deline and other communities that I represent that need respite care, palliative care for our elders so they can stay in their communities. Can the Minister, through the assessment of the Foundation for Change, start implementing some programs that would give the support to the elders as soon as possible?

Mr. Speaker, earlier today in Members’ statements, almost every Member spoke about the need for respite care, whether it be for persons with disabilities or elders. We have a lot of people not just in Yellowknife as we know of, but we have a lot of individuals in our small communities who need assistance in a similar way. This is why the Department of Health and Social Services, over the last three years, has created and expanded a respite care program for communities outside of Yellowknife. What we propose to do is I would like to have one territorial respite care program. We are going to work in conjunction with our partners and we will work out the details and come to the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Dollars are limited. We need to maximize the use of our resources and I look forward to getting support from the Members on the other side as we move forward on a territorial respite care program. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talked about a territorial-wide approach to respite care. Would the Minister entertain with her Cabinet Members as to how we can support families that are on call 24/7 who are basically supporting their loved ones? How can we support them in terms of putting together a solid program that would see that they would get some relief and some support in our smaller communities where some of them have to go to work after a week of taking time off? We need to get some good support in our communities. I ask the Minister if she will look at all possibilities where we can get support for families.

We should remember that our people are assisted in different ways and under different programs and by different professionals in varying degrees in our communities depending on their needs and the capacity in our communities. Respite care is not a solution to everything. There are some people who need more intense care than respite care. So we should remember that there are varying degrees of programs that are in line with the needs of the people.

Mr. Speaker, I state again to the Member that the department sees respite care and expanded home care as an important element in the delivery of our health and social services care. We want to enable our people to stay in our communities, be supported by their families with support from home care and respite care. We have a long way to go. We just began our three-year project outside of Yellowknife. We had a pilot project outside of Yellowknife and we’ve had a pilot project in Yellowknife. I believe it’s time to put them together, look at it in a comprehensive approach, find efficiencies where we can, but we are committed to moving forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday the Minister, in response to some questions that I had for her, was using the deficit as the reason why the respite care funding cut was made. Mr. Speaker, this is a very poor excuse, as I mentioned in my statement. Nothing’s been done to address the root cause of these growing deficits in the seven years that I’ve been here, and certainly in the past three years that the Minister has been at the helm. I know in response to questions my colleague Mr. Abernethy had, the Minister said that moving forward we’re going to work out some details on getting the $250,000 reinstated and trying to find a way forward to fund the program and the details would be coming. But, Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is: How are we supposed to believe that when where were the details when it came to the funding cut? Mr. Speaker, we just had business plans and the Minister didn’t mention anything to us about a funding cut to the respite care program. Thank you. Where were the details then?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure if I can convince him that the wall behind you is grey, I don’t think any information I give him can convince him of anything, but let me say, and like I said today, and I’ve given a lot of information already, Mr. Speaker. We have had a two-track process when it comes to the respite care program. We’ve had a pilot project in YACL for Yellowknife only. We’ve had a three-year pilot project outside of Yellowknife. I am suggesting that it is time now for us to look a territorial respite care program. We have heard from families in Yellowknife who are saying that those programs are valuable and essential to their children’s well-being, as well as their families’ well-being and we have never questioned that. We support respite care for the families.

At the same time we have a lot of families in many different communities outside of Yellowknife with much less facilities and programming than Yellowknife, who are taking care of their families with limited resources. So we, as a government, are going to re-evaluate that program and we are going to come to the Standing Committee on Social Programs. That is the regular process and we are going to present a territorial respite care program. So it’s not about $250,000 and it’s not about black and white simplistic answers. I am announcing today, and if the Member wants to receive that, it’s up to him. We are working on a territorial respite care program. That’s the way to go and I’m committed to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly don’t need to be convinced of the value of respite care, whether it’s here in Yellowknife or any of our communities, and I think that’s a step in the right direction that the government is going towards.

Again, I’m having trouble understanding how it is the Minister could go through the business planning process and not advise the Standing Committee on Social Programs that this funding cut was coming. Again, where were the details then? She says she’s coming forward to the Standing Committee on Social Programs with details on this new program. Eighteen months ago when I spoke about it, when I spoke about it in my statement, the same Minister came before the Standing Committee on Social Programs with a deficit-fighting plan; a nice, glossy plan. It never saw the light of day, Mr. Speaker. So how we are we supposed to believe the Minister that this will actually happen? Thank you.

I don’t think this is a question of lack of detail. I think that I can explain the details. I don’t even know if I have enough time, Mr. Speaker. I have said it’s already been said that THAF was until 2009-10. We were able, and we were lucky, to get an extension of two years. The budget for 2009-2010 does not include THSSI funding. This is why it’s not called THSSI instead of THAF, and I keep telling the Member and he doesn’t want to believe me. He says there’s a lack of detail. He’s not accepting the answers. We just approved a supplementary appropriation approving THSSI, so we have a different internal kind of budgeting processing going on here. We approved money for a respite care program outside of Yellowknife through the main budget and we approved THSSI and THAF funding under supplementary appropriations. Mr. Speaker, if he wants any more details on how we fund respite care program, I’d be happy to provide that, but just because he doesn’t agree with it, it doesn’t mean that the details are not there. Thank you.

Again, I appreciate the Minister’s response, but the Minister has been very evasive when it comes to actually answering questions about this funding cut. She won’t tell us who ultimately made the decision to cut the $250,000 or where the $250,000 is going and what it’s going to be spent on. Mr. Speaker, again, it’s a fairly straightforward question. Who is responsible for cutting the $250,000 out of the budget? Thank you.

With all due respect, that’s a really irrelevant question. I am Minister of Health and Social Services. Whether I am involved directly or not, I am responsible for whatever happens in health and social services. That’s the very reason why he asks me questions and it’s my job to answer them. So what’s the relevance of who cut it? What we know is the respite care program is important. I’m presenting to the Member that we want to go forward on this. The funding under THAF is sunsetted. It doesn’t show up in future budgets. We were able to get extra money from the federal government, so we are putting it back in under supplementary appropriation. We use approved funding for 2010-2011 under a supplementary appropriation and the Member knows, and everybody here knows, that we fund various programs under 2010-2011 and we will go through the same process for 2011-2012. So that’s a very esoteric internal budgeting process. Mr. Speaker, the Member also knows that we talked together and agreed on budget items as well.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the same Minister that on Monday, in response to a question that I had, she said we are not able to expand any programs. The respite care program was a pilot project and was time limited.

Mr. Speaker, again, I want to ask the Minister whether or not she herself knew that this was a proposed funding cut and when she found out about that cut. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, on Monday I said that because, as the Member knows, the funding has sunsetted. It’s not in the books. It’s not there. THAF funding ended as of ’09-10.

We got extra money for two years for ’10-11 and ’11-12. We did planning for 2010-2011 through supplementary appropriation. The budget for 2011-12 has not been before this House. For the information of the public and everybody, when we go through the budgeting process, we work closely with the communities.

So, Mr. Speaker, I said what the Member said I said and those are accurate. The money has sunsetted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I talk about the importance of respite care in Tu Nedhe communities. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, Tu Nedhe is a part of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority. I want to ask the Minister what the plan is specific to communities in Tu Nedhe. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, we have begun to have a respite care program outside of Yellowknife for the last three years. We are not in all of the communities yet. We have started in the Beaufort-Delta and Deline and I believe we have a couple of respite programs in Simpson. So we need to continue to work together to find respite care programming in communities across the Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of situations in Tu Nedhe that need immediate assistance. I have a disabled couple taking care of an elderly uncle who’s I believe in his nineties. Could the Minister tell me what kind of assistance would be available for family members caring for people today? Thank you.

In situations like that, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, which is responsible for Tu Nedhe, would do an assessment on that individual and the family and provide either home care assistance, occupational therapy assistance, and work out a care plan for the family. Where there is a respite care program like Yellowknife, they could access those. But where there isn’t, home care and local health and social authorities would look to assist the family. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the situations in Tu Nedhe where individuals are being cared for by family, that’s happening without any compensation to the family, and what’s happening is the elders are now getting to a point where they feel that they’ve become a burden because they recognize that the family is doing this, taking shifts doing this on their own. Some seniors are even refusing care because there’s no money to support the families that are trying to help them.

Does the Minister and the health authority, I suppose, acknowledge the fact that respite care would, in the long run, save a lot of money for the government? Thank you.

In the long run we will always need support of the families to take care of our elders and we’ll always have to rely on the families who look after children with disabilities and all kinds of family members who need assistance, which is why respite care is important to these families. It gives them a little bit of breathing room and helps them cope with the challenge of the extra responsibilities that they have. So I don’t think the government will ever be in a place where we could do 24-hour care for everybody.

We need to work together with the families. In cases of elders and persons with disabilities, government works to provide home care programming. Home care is very multi-faceted. Sometimes it’s nursing coverage and sometimes it’s light housework. So the program is different. Where there is a respite care program, it just gives the families a break while they take care of their loved ones.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In Tu Nedhe we still have more seniors in institutional care than we do in some sort of respite care, even though there is no money with the respite care. There are still individuals taking care of their aged and disabled family members. Does the Minister acknowledge that disabled and aged people have a better quality of life with family members under respite care rather than institutional care? Thank you.

Absolutely. Institutional care is always more expensive, usually far away, it’s less humane and less personal. So in all ways, we should, as a government, minimize that. We do also accept, though, there are situations where there is no choice but to give institutional care for some of our elderly and some of our residents because their needs are so acute and so expansive that no individual or families can provide that. This is why we have under the Foundation for Change action plan as a goal to enhance and expand home care and respite care. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has put on record clearly that respite is a valuable and needed service. I thank her for that because it certainly makes some of these questions a lot easier.

She’s told the House repeatedly that THAF was extended by two years, which carries this government into the budget years of 2011-12. So THAF funding -- which is the Territorial Health Access Fund, for anyone who doesn’t know what THAF stands for -- started in 2009-2010 and is carried into the second year, which is the 2010-11 and, of course, now we are really coming down to what’s happening in the third and final year.

Mr. Speaker, I thought the question as to who cut the money was very relevant because it goes simply to my question. Did the Minister of Health and Social Services provide direction, instructions, a directive or any message to cut, trim or change the scheduled funding for respite services at all in any form? If not, is she tracking the person down who did make this instructional choice to do this, to freeze any changes until we find a solution for this problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact is we are getting distracted by how this information was communicated. I would rather focus on moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government gave us $50 million and we have to plan on budgeting accordingly. Both THAF and THSSI -- and Member Bisaro asked what are we going to do with that money -- it’s important for everybody to know that that money is spent as part of our health care budget. We pay nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives, doctors, diagnostics, we pay for health care out of that THAF funding. There is a two-year time limit. We need to find ways to change the way we deliver programs and that is why we need to use some of that money on the Foundation for Change action plan.

The reason why I say it’s really unfortunate how this was communicated in that way is because if this government is going to provide a respite care program, it’s going to provide a respite care program. We need to come up with the money to do that. Everybody knows we have limited resources, so this is why it is important for us to have a territorial respite care program. We need to use the resources of the department and find ways to continue to provide respite care programs for families in Yellowknife as well as outside of Yellowknife. This is why we need to do a territorial respite care program. Thank you.

I kind of find it unfortunate that the Minister keeps saying it’s unfortunate that it was brought to us in this method. To be quite honest, Mr. Speaker, if this message of respite care wasn’t brought to us by constituents, it would be so unfortunate it would have been long gone before we ever found out.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps saying it’s a distraction about trying to find out what happened. I think that’s kind of the blueprint of finding out what we can do. Mr. Speaker, where is the money for the budget year 2011-12 going to be allocated to? In short, Mr. Speaker, it has been allocated to two years towards respite care. So we are trying to track down where this money is now going to. Why isn’t the Minister agreeing in this House to stabilize the money for respite? Thank you.

The Member knows that in the February budget session we debate the 2011-2012 budget. Thank you.