Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a resident of Yellowknife North, also a former fellow Yellowknife city councillor and assistant to former MLA Wendy Bisaro, Ms. Amanda Mallon. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize a constituent of Yellowknife South, Gayla Thunstrum. Also three Pages from Yellowknife South, Anika d’Argencourt, Emelia Robertson, and Richard Epelon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to recognize also Roberta Daniels who is here with us from Behchoko. And also Dolphus Nitsiza from Behchoko as well. Welcome. All those individuals in the gallery joining us here today, welcome. It is always nice to have an audience in the gallery. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Mr. Speaker, today you heard my Member’s Statement about the ferry service in Fort Simpson. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transportation did attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Fort Simpson regarding this issue on May 12th. I thank him for attending that and speaking on behalf of the government. The next day, on May 13th, I sent the Minister a question and asked has the department done a cost analysis of operating the ferry service for those extra two hours. The response I received today was: “the Department of Transportation acknowledges a question received from the Chamber of Commerce to extend the operation hours of the M.V. Lafferty Ferry. However, due to the current fiscal reality, the department is unable to provide the two-hour extension. The Department of Transportation will continue to work with the community to optimize the ferry hours while recognizing the existing fiscal conditions affecting all of the government, GNWT.” Unfortunately, he did not answer my question. Therefore, can the Minister please tell the House if a cost analysis was done on this request, and if it was, when? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question on the ferry hours and the opportunity to meet with the Chamber in Fort Simpson. To my knowledge, to date we haven't done a complete cost analysis on the ferry for extending it by two hours for this particular. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for this answer. However, then, how can the Minister come out and say that due to fiscal restraint or fiscal responsibility we can't do anything without a study being done? Thank you. Can you please explain that?

As the Member alluded to, how can we do a cost analysis? We are presently, I believe, undertaking this under his request. We haven't totally finished it to date. But the reality of the fiscal situation we are in, if we were to extend the ferry hours for the M.V. Lafferty in Fort Simpson, we would probably have to look at doing this for all other ferry systems within the Northwest Territories. Any solution that we would come towards with the community of Fort Simpson would have to probably be extended to other communities across the Northwest Territories. I must remind the Member that any solution that we work out with the communities needs to be within the fiscal realities and the regular territory framework of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

I again thank the Minister for his answer. I am a little confused with the responses that I got in my e-mail and today. It is a little bit different. Can the Minister please provide me with a historical cost to operate all the ferries of the NWT for the past three years including any over time?

Yes. We can provide that to the Member.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I look forward to getting that information. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister have his department look into the feasibility of moving the ferry landing further up the yard to get away from the low squats at the current location and alternatives such as a floating bridge or causeway using the island further up the river as part of their strategic plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member knows, we have a 25-year strategic transportation strategy, and we look at all aspects of transportation across the Northwest Territories. I don't believe that this particular request is in there. But we can certainly have a quick study on it. One thing about moving that would be looking at realigning the highway and other things as such to doing that, which would be a great capital cost to the Government of the Northwest Territories. But I can talk to the department about it and get back to the Member.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about elders’ care and I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, my first question: what care facilities and services are currently available to Ulukhaktok elders? Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health and social services staff in the community health centre provide elders in Ulukhaktok with support and nursing services in accordance to their needs. There is one home support worker in the community, as well as a community health nurse dedicated to providing some home-care services. The authority has a temporary, community social services worker who will be transitioning into the community next week, which I think is fantastic news. The health staff are supported by teams of professionals in the Beaufort Delta as well. So the seniors can get services from the health centre if they need acute care services or emergency-type services. Within the community, as far as units or housing facilities, there is a four-plex within the community that is available for seniors through the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, within the community specifically, there are a number of things that are happening. The Department of Health and Social Services is funding the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority to provide things like the elders’ afternoon tea program for elders so that they have the opportunity to get out of their homes and access resources and avoid social isolation, which many seniors across the North can face.

The authority is offering a variety of services in the community of Ulukhaktok to support elders, including assisting elders to complete forms and applications, some advocacy, facilitating referrals to other resources as required for the individual elders. There is some counselling available. Services for elders which we hope to enhance when we get that actual incumbent in the community, which is something we have struggled with in the past. We do have some different Elders’ Day events, like I have already mentioned. There are also activities planned in June to celebrate Elders’ Month. The authority will also be pursuing a joint presentation with the RCMP, the YCFC to co-facilitate a community presentation on elder abuse. There are a number of things that are happening specifically targeting the communities to provide support to the elders who do live there.

I thank the Minister for the response to that question. Mr. Speaker, as indicated earlier, there is a growing need for an elders' home in Ulukhaktok. Does the Department of Health and Social Services plan to build another facility for elders?

Mr. Speaker, as I already indicated there is a four-plex in the community for independent living for seniors in the community already which is supplied by the NWT Housing Corporation. When the Member made his statement, I had an opportunity to check with the Minister of Housing to see if there are any plans to put an independent living unit in the community or any additional independent living units. The Housing Corp is doing a needs survey across the Northwest Territories to determine where some of that need exists, at which point, I am certain they will get feedback from Ulukhaktok to help determine their needs. I would strongly encourage the Member and the community to provide the Housing Corp with that input.

With respect to long-term care facilities, we do have the long-term care report in front of us that demonstrates a shortage of 258 beds across the Northwest Territories. A number of those beds have been identified in the Beaufort Delta, and we are looking at working with the region and the communities to help us figure out how to move forward to put in those long-term care beds. Those long-term care beds right now are targeted for Inuvik as a regional centre. We try to keep people in the communities and in their homes as long as possible. Then they have to transition to independent living. Then they have to transition to long-term care. That long-term care plan is going to be for the region, but likely located in Inuvik.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to just begin by saying that I misspoke during my statement by saying that there were 20,000 non-resident workers. In fact, the right number is 2,000.

My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment. The Labour Market Forecast and Needs Assessment provides some valuable insights into the nature of the job market to come. But it is weak on the topic of how new workers will be attracted to the territory. The resident work force is forecasted to both age and shrink, so much so, the report says, that the conditions may "limit the territorial government's capacity to deliver public services." What steps is the government taking to attract new workers to prevent this outcome? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.