I appreciate the Member’s opinion. I disagree with him. I’ve made a commitment; we’re going to stand up to the commitment. There’s a significant amount of work that needs to be done and they were hoping to do it this week, but they will do it the week after or the week after, depending on what the chief of the community says is appropriate.

Department staff need to work with the authority and we need to work with the community to conduct a functional program assessment of the wellness centre that exists. They also need to complete a health assessment with the needs of elders and residents with chronic conditions in the community. This will help identify the gaps in the current resources so that a plan for services that will support the elders to remain in their community,

remain in their homes during the dying process can be put into place. This isn’t just the GNWT. This is going to require a partnership with the community of Deline.

We’re looking forward to moving forward and developing that partnership and finding a way to conclude this in order to ensure that residents have the ability to receive palliative services in their communities during the final stages of life. Thank you.