Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know my colleagues in the House are all aware of the changing age structure in the Northwest Territories and that as a proportion our numbers of seniors in the general population is increasing steadily from year to year. This has been a long-term trend and its slowly ramping up. The projected shortfall of 200 long-term care beds and 60 dementia beds by 2031 was a result of one study. In fact, the numbers of seniors in Yellowknife will grow at triple the rate of the rest of the Northwest Territories. I recall discussions in the past about the number of

seniors, the amazing proportion of the population who are seniors over 65 years of age in the Mackenzie Delta, for example.

The present projects in Behchoko and Norman Wells are certainly a step in the right direction and they are significant, but I think it’s well-recognized that they are a step. They alone are not sufficient.

There are long waiting lists for Avens campus facilities. Again, I would say most people are aware of this and for long-term care beds. Four to six years for the cottages, eight months for long-term care beds and these are rising steadily again, along with the forecasts that we’ve been hearing about.

Avens Society, again, has a proven record, a long history for support to all territorial seniors, but Aven Manor was built in 1987 and is quickly coming to the end of its service life without significant renovation to meet codes and safety requirements. It requires extensive upgrades to the electrical, structural and mechanical systems, including, for example, replacement of roof and a boiler. Kitchen facilities have long been recognized as inadequate on that campus.

Avens, of course, was never really designed for long-term care. The society is now poised to begin construction of a 60-bed facility designed to meet modern standards and to serve all territorial seniors. However, it’s no surprise that government support is crucial and must be in place for Avens project to proceed next spring. In fact, there is site preparation happening right now as we speak and I believe the Minister of Health and Social Services has been supporting that effort, if not with resources then through other means.

So I think there’s a long standing reputation of this society. They set very high standards. We know that they have recently met the accreditation process, a very rigorous process to meet all standards of care and safety and so on and they’ve made it through that, this independent society with very high standards and very high percentages of success in the examinations that they went through.

The ongoing need for facilities for seniors with some financial independence continues to this day and I know the Minister is well aware of that. What can this government do to form partnerships with private enterprise to address this growing need? There is likely some other innovative ways of addressing this.

Retaining seniors I know is important to this House. The Minister of Finance has talked a lot about building our population and growing it by a couple of thousand over the next five years. One way of doing that is to provide appropriate levels of support for our seniors so they don’t have to travel south to find those supports. Let alone the support is important to the health of our families, many of

whom are under certain levels of stress as they try and provide that support themselves.

The current infrastructure plan of Health and Social Services will not provide the needed facilities in time for people that are soon going to need seniors support facilities to be able to stay in the NWT, as I mentioned. Elders, after all they’ve contributed to society in the North, deserve some certainty that they will be safe and comfortable in the autumn of their lives, not concerned about whether their basic needs will be met, and that’s beginning to be the case for many people.

Therefore, I and my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen are calling for a comprehensive and transparent action plan that recognizes all of these conditions and meets the needs identified for proper treatment of our seniors, meeting long-term and different levels of care in all of our communities, both large and small, across the Northwest Territories. This plan needs to improve what this government will do to work with private industry to provide facilities for those seniors who are financially able but still in need of care.

Specifically with respect to the Avens project to provide 60 new long-term care beds and essential renovation of existing aging facilities, we are urging the government to provide the support needed to realize that project that is already well-designed and, as I mentioned, site preparation taking place. That society has a record of pooling incredible resources from businesses and contributions from members of the public, amazing volunteer services and so on while it contributes to their efficiency and so on. I know that’s the case in a number of our communities.

So I’ll leave it at that. I think the need is very clear and transparent to all. I look forward to hearing perspectives from across the Northwest Territories as represented by Members of this House. Mahsi.