Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last Thursday I stood up in the House to congratulate one of our elders back home a happy 95th birthday.

On Friday, when I jumped on the plane and was at the airport, I ran into some of our community members who were actually here in Yellowknife for a training course put on by the NWT Seniors’ Society, possibly in partnership with our Department of Health and Social Services, in dealing with seniors. What we talked about was numerous different issues which have always come to the forefront of this House, some in reference to elder abuse.

I just want to mention that on Friday night when I was in Inuvik at the Ingamo Hall, they were celebrating Elizabeth Greenland’s 95th birthday.

There were a lot of community elders who still live very independent lifestyles who were in attendance, who were participating in the feast and, in some cases, participating in the dance, but a bigger portion of it was the elders and the seniors from the long-term care facility. I would just like to recognize the staff, who usually go above and beyond what’s asked of them and bring a lot of these seniors to the community events so they can participate and meet with old family and old friends to continue to live that independent lifestyle.

As I sat around that night I was thinking, this is so great to see our elders continue on. A lot of people made reference to Elizabeth Greenland, how she continued on the traditions – traditional knowledge, language, culture – and how she contributed to the community. And it wasn’t just her. If you looked around the room, you saw all the elders who contributed to making the Beaufort-Delta what it was and still is today.

Today I want to ensure that we still respect our elders and ensure that we still provide the programs and services that they need, not only in the Beaufort-Delta region but right across the Northwest Territories, and that this government does, in fact, stay on top of those programs and services.

In small communities you do see where there can be elder abuse. That evening there may have been some elders that may have been recognized. So today I’ll ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, what are we doing in terms of elder abuse? What are we doing in terms of the care mobility program with housing as well as a duty to

report? I’ll ask the Minister of Health and Social Services those questions later on today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.