Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I sat down with some very committed and encouraging people in the Northwest Territories. They were working on initiatives to help our elders in our small communities. The program is called Elders in Motion. These people talked about how they are working with the elders in our communities, and some of the barriers, some of the advice and some of the things that they are doing in our communities. I just happened to be there when they were doing their presentation – and they’re at the Baker Centre this afternoon finishing off today’s work there – and they were talking about the elders who are needing help in our small communities and communities right across the Northwest Territories.

The people in my region were talking about having some support, some of the small stuff we can do in our communities to help our elders get out, get active and do some of the things they used to do a long time ago.

For example, one of the things that the participants talked about is having ramps at the elders’ homes so they can easily come out of the houses and get out and exercise, pick berries and do the things they have loved to do all their life. They also talked about putting small steps into the school because some of the steps are pretty steep in the schools in the settlements. There’s maybe about 20 steps for them to get up into some of the classrooms or walk in some of the other areas that they want to go. They also talked about the roaming of dogs in the small communities. They are really afraid that there are too many loose dogs in the communities and it stops them from getting out and being active.

These community people are working hard. The elders are guiding and advising them. I think that there is a time and place that these small things, that sometimes we overlook as legislators, we need to look at some of these things that can support our elders get out, get them in motion and give them a good life before they pass on to the next world. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.