Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would assume yes, but I would ask the Minister of Education if he could clarify that fact. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Part of the reason why we’re transferring the funding to the Healthy Family Program has always been part of our discussion when we went through the Child and Family Resource Program that was initiated and has been successful to date. It was of the opinion that we need to put money into the programming, so that’s where the Healthy Family Initiative is earmarked. We are transferring, so it is in the works. Health and Social Services has always been our partner on this approach. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister. So, I have to ask the question again. Is the Child and Family Resource Program going to be operational in ‘15-16? The Minister said that it’s a successful program, so if it’s successful, why are

we taking money out of that program and putting it into another one? Thank you.

Mr. Chair, the pilot project we have done with Child and Family Resource Program into the communities, again, has been successful and this is building on that. Obviously, the Child and Family Resource Program is part of the Early Childhood Framework, the 10-year action plan and developing a 10-year framework and then a three-year action plan geared towards that. It is a continuation of the programming. This is one of the areas that Health and Social Services has been a partner. We are allocating healthy family programming based on the needs of the communities that have been identified. With our department, child and family resource programing continues within my department. Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, if I’m hearing this rightly, so the Child and Family Resource Program, I am presuming the two pilots will continue as they did but there will not be any expansion. Can I get confirmation that the pilot programs will continue and that there will be no expansion of the Child and Family Resource Program in ‘15-16? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. We’ll go to Minister Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is correct.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Committee, continuing on questions on this activity, I have Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I’ll have one question about the Hay River Health and Social Services Pension Plan. My colleague was asking about rolling them into the GNWT. I guess the Department of Health is working on this. Do we have knowledge about what other departments, such as Finance, would be involved in the assessment of this, or are we using outside pension people to give us an estimate on what the cost will be?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Finance and Health will be working together on this issue. Thank you.

I will leave that point for now. My next question is adult and child care in the southern facilities, it seems we have this on an annual basis. I know it’s been talked about in the House, as well, but this is a very expensive cost to the GNWT. I am wondering what we are doing to repatriate some of these individuals or find specialists to come to the Northwest Territories so we can repatriate these individuals.

There are regular reviews done of the clients down south,

both adults and children. The significant challenge is the multiple presenting problems, very, very complex, in many cases, presenting problems that require constant 24/7 supervision. There is such a wide array of special needs and requirements that it would be impossible, in the estimation of the government, to be able to bring back a facility worth 10 or 15 of these folks all with a wide array of problems, to try to put them all in one facility. When they are placed down south, we have the ability to be able to go and place them in specific facilities and have the critical mass and economies of scale to deal with the specific presenting problems that an individual child or adult may have. Mr. Chair, with your indulgence, I would ask the Minister if he would like to add anything further in terms of rationale.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don’t have too much to add. These are very similar questions that were asked during oral questions last week by the other Member for Hay River, Jane Groenewegen. We do an assessment of an individual biannually, so two times a year we’ll do individual assessments to determine if there is an opportunity to bring them back and what the current status is. Where we have an opportunity to repatriate, we do.

I also had an opportunity, during the previous budget session, to indicate that we are going to have our territorial services take a look at all the individuals down south to see if there is any opportunity to repatriate a block of individuals with like conditions. Unfortunately, as Minister Miltenberger said, we did that review and we didn’t find a group of individuals with like conditions that we could bring back and put in a territorial facility, but we will do that review every couple of years because the realities could change.

Where we stand today is there isn’t a block of individuals we can repatriate as a result of like conditions. We continue to do the biannual review of individuals and where we can repatriate, we do. These individuals have pretty complex conditions requiring extensive care and we haven’t been able to repatriate many of them at this point.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My only other question would be with these individuals, when we assess them… I’m looking for residency. If they are in a facility that is in the South for an extended period of time, do they ever become residents of that jurisdiction? That’s the main question. Do they stay NWT residents for the entire stay there? They could be there for life. We continue to pay from the NWT, but really they are residents of the jurisdiction. Would they be

somehow put into a queue for that jurisdiction? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the past, there have been cases where it’s been a permanent placement where over time they become… In one case I can recollect in my time, they became a resident of Ontario. It depends on the length of the stay, but most jurisdictions now you have to have an understanding that this is a very specialized service that’s being purchased for our citizens, our residents. On that basis, you enter into those agreements. Otherwise it would be problematic for the receiving jurisdictions in terms of pressure on their system over time.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Continuing on with questions on Health and Social Services, I have Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to follow up on my colleague’s questions and he actually asked most of the questions I had. Would the Minister know how many adults and children we have in care and what the total costs are that this amount is supplementing?