This is page numbers 6301 - 6336 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was seniors.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions that my colleague Mr. Krutko is asking, but I want to do it from a slightly different angle. Clearly we have an aging population in Canada and the Northwest Territories. People are living longer due to

advances in health sciences and whatnot. In the Northwest Territories we’ve done a great job providing facilities to help support individuals who need level 3 and 4 care. With the approval of the capital budget we’ll soon have a long-term care facility for level 3 and 4 in every region in the Northwest Territories, which I think is great.

Research does suggest that living and aging in place has significant advantages to both the individuals and to the system by way of cost savings. The Minister of Health and Social Services has gone on the record talking about aging in place. I support that direction. I think there is significant value in helping people live in their homes. Aging in place does not just mean living in your communities, it means living in your home.

I’d like a little more information from the Minister of Health on what the department is doing proactively to support seniors today and in the future to live in their homes and age in place rather than have to rely on facilities. It would be a lot more affordable for us to help them stay in their homes than to put them in facilities. What is some of the proactive work the Minister’s doing?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We understand and the Member recognizes that we need to have a long-term care facility network in regional centres at least. We have a long way in doing that. We have planned for them. We have put them into capital planning. We know that has to be the last resort. Most families and elders, even, I don’t think want to go into long-term care facilities unless they have to. This is why we set up as our long-term goal to expand home care services.

We have very good home care services in places like Yellowknife, and the GNWT provides home care as an insured service, which is something different. In other jurisdictions you have to pay for those, except for those who meet income tests or something like that. We want to expand these programs to regional centres and communities and that’s one of the things we’re doing in Aklavik, whereas right now we’re looking after two long-term care elders for a large amount of money, MLA Krutko has pointed out a number of times that he believes there are, and we agree too, they are up to 100 or 30 to 60 elders who are at home doing their own thing but who need support from the government, so that we pay attention to them, that we have elders program, lunch program, where health care professionals and other community people could converge and keep an eye on our elders so that they’re supported, they’re provided with recreational programs, and just a network is built around these elders so that we prevent them from falling through the cracks. It is one that we

want to expand and that’s the goal of the department.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I thank the Minister for all those comments. I agree wholeheartedly. I think this is an important area to work on. The responses were more conceptual, they were bigger picture, and I’m kind of wondering more about the specific actions that are taking place to help us facilitate aging in place. I know that we need more home care support and we do have a great program here in Yellowknife, but what is the plan? How are we actually going to facilitate getting home care workers, whether it’s a home care nurse or a home support worker, into those communities?

I do have a suggestion for the Minister. Several years ago, probably eight or nine now, the Aurora College delivered this Home Support Worker Training Program and it was delivered by the college but facilitated out of Fort Res. I believe they trained about eight or nine local people to be home support workers. Great program, great benefits. Is this the type of thing we can expect to see in other communities throughout the Northwest Territories? Training of local people for local jobs to get them to support local people?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

I didn’t know that’s what the Member was referring to. The Member knows already, and I’ve already said that in the standing committee briefing last week and throughout the Committee of the Whole debates, that that’s the direction we need to take. We’re expanding the long-term care facilities in Behchoko from eight beds to 18 beds. We’re going to have an 18-bed facility in Norman Wells. Even in those facilities we could use personal attendants and home support workers.

We want to expand the Home Support Worker Program and Home Care Program in many other regions and communities. Yellowknife, I think, is a standard. I think we have a very good programming in Yellowknife and Hay River and some of the major centres, but we desperately need to expand these programs into communities. What we have under Foundation for Change action plan is that we have set this as a goal and are moving out from where we have so much need in so many of our communities. Part of that work, and I’ve said that already, in reviewing our health training program at Aurora College, I am definitely working with the department and we are talking with HR about having Home Care Support Training Program to get ready for expansion.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Once again I agree with everything the Minister is saying and I support the direction they’re going. What I’m looking for more is sort of concrete action. When can we expect to see some of these programs rolled out in the communities? We’re not getting any younger. Now is kind of the time to get these programs in place. I

hear what she’s saying. I heard what the Minister is saying and I support what the Minister is saying. I’m glad the Minister’s doing it. When can we start to see some action rolled out? When can we start seeing some of the training on the ground for the people?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

We are doing that right now so I’m not sure. A lot of people say, well, when are you going to do that? We are doing that as we speak. We are rolling out a program in Aklavik as we speak. That’s the transition between the Joe Greenland Centre and the program we are going to be offering. We are expanding the Home Care Program there. We want to deliver elders centre day programming there.

The Foundation for Change action plan includes expansion of home care but we need to find the resources to do that and that includes training and that includes having PYs set for home care. We are making that part of the business plan. We already have a very well-established Home Care Program in the Northwest Territories. I believe Ruth Spence started that 30 years ago, or Esther Braden. We have a very well-established Home Care Program history in the Northwest Territories. Our challenge is to expand that to communities outside of Yellowknife and we’re doing that right now. He doesn’t have to wait for the bell to go off and say when are you getting going. We are doing that. We want to do more of it.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister might be missing the point I’m trying to make here. I agree with everything she’s saying. I think our Home Care Program is fantastic. I’m glad it’s rolling out to the other communities. I’m talking about getting the people in those communities trained to do the jobs, trained to do the home support worker programs. I don’t actually see... If it exists, I’d like her to show me where our current home support worker training exists. That’s what I’m asking. I support everything the Minister is doing, but where’s the training program? When can we see a training program roll out so we can get Northerners doing northern jobs to help the elders and seniors in the communities? That’s what I’m focusing on, not on the great programs that exist and moving them out, because I support them. I’m talking about training. I’m just trying to be clear.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

I think I should give him my profile of where we are with home care programming that we’re doing right now. I would be happy to give him information on where we need to go and where we plan to go. Obviously, all the time it’s subject to funding. I’ve presented information to standing committee about growing funding needs. We want to expand the Home Care Program. We want to do different things with mental health

programming. We have $40 million or $50 million asked right now with the Department of Health and Social Services that we will be prioritizing and bringing forward in months to come.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to probe a little further on how this government can and will assist our seniors as they struggle to deal with the issue of elder abuse. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors.

At the close of the NWT Seniors’ Building Network Symposium the society stated some priorities for immediate action. They want to put in place pilot networks in communities over the next three to four years; upgrade their online support to fight abuse with information; they want to reinstate the NWT Prevention of Abuse of Older Adults Steering Committee; and they seek seniors’ agreement to rename the June Senior Citizens Week as World Elder Awareness Week in the Northwest Territories. Four specific issues. Will the Minister have her staff sit down and meet with NWT Seniors’ executive on these four specific points and report to the Social Programs committee on how this government will give their support? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.

Question 561-16(5): Elder Abuse
Oral Questions

Range Lake

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our staff meets regularly with seniors’ groups including the NWT Seniors’ Society. They have very good relationships with them. I was at the elders’ conference in December on elder abuse and I am not aware if they have formally submitted those proposals. They might have but I just don’t have that in front of me. When they do and if they have, we would review them, analyse them and respond to them. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I’ll take that as a yes, the Minister’s staff will sit down with these folks.

On Monday, Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister to report back on the results of last week’s Coalition Against Family Violence meeting. The NWT Seniors’ Society is calling, as we heard from my colleague Ms. Bisaro, for the phase 3 of the Action Plan on Family Violence to make elder abuse a priority for phase 3 work. Will the Minister include this in the debriefing from the meeting and report back to committee on how this important element of the family violence equation can be given priority? Mahsi.

Question 561-16(5): Elder Abuse
Oral Questions

Range Lake

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

My understanding is that the coalition had one meeting and they are going to continue to meet to work on making a proposal to

the government on phase 3. The past practices have been not only with this Family Violence Coalition but also the Homelessness Coalition. Those are groups made up of people in the field as well as some of the government staff. Traditionally, we let them do their work and they will make their presentations to appropriate departments and the Ministers. It’s not a normal practice for a Minister to tell them what to do. Obviously, I am here standing ready to hear from them, but I think we do need to give them some time to do the work. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to present to us, and I’d be happy to ask them to include elder abuse as part of their work. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you for the response from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, we need data to attack this problem. Data is information and all we have right now is anecdotal information. The Seniors’ Society is calling on government to get the facts and start research projects to collect specific data on the extent of elder abuse and living conditions specific to seniors. The Anti-Poverty Alliance is calling for the same improvements in data collection. Will the Minister commit to working with the Department of Executive to take prompt action on this request so we can set the 17

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Assembly up

with good data for informed action? Thank you.

Question 561-16(5): Elder Abuse
Oral Questions

Range Lake

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

I was not given that request from the NWT Seniors’ Society. I don’t know if the society sent that information to the Member. I’m here ready to work with the NWT Seniors’ Society. I’ve not been given a chance to review those, so if the society has any information that they would like us to look into, we stand ready to look at their request. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. I thought she was at the meeting, but I’ll certainly make sure the seniors’ committee is corresponding with the Minister with that full information and request. Again, like the Anti-Poverty Alliance, the NWT seniors are calling for a coordinated and cross-government approach. Nothing new. The Minister is responsible for the well-being of seniors. Could she commit to updating her current seniors’ issues action plan with these inputs and reporting to committee again on this renewed strategy and again on the Coalition Against Family Violence meeting results as well? Thank you.

Question 561-16(5): Elder Abuse
Oral Questions

Range Lake

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister Responsible for Seniors

As I indicated, they had one initial meeting and I’m not sure if there’s a whole lot to report right now, but I am committed to working with them. I think we should give them a chance to meet and discuss and think through about where they want to go on the next phase.

I just want to repeat that my department, my officials that work with the seniors, they have a very

good working relationship with them as the people who work on the Family Violence Coalition as the other coalitions we have. We have our staff working with the NGOs and stakeholders in these groups. As the material arrives from them I would be happy to brief the committee and work with them. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Transportation regarding the Auditor General’s report on the Deh Cho Bridge. I listened quite clearly to the Minister’s statement from earlier today where on page 2 he says we continuously identify risks and track mitigation measures. I am confident that we are adequately managing risks to ensure the highest standards of quality and safety are maintained in this project.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister says that, but quite clearly in the Auditor General’s report risk management is certainly called into question by the Department of Transportation. I’d like to, first of all, ask the Minister of Transportation what plans they have specifically to address the responsibility for certifying that the design and construction of the whole bridge project will meet Canadian highway bridge design code. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.