Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about the Continuing Care Action Plan. It is a priority of this government to help our elders and our seniors age in place or as close to their homes as possible. There are a number of activities that we are pursuing to provide supports to elders as they age so that they can stay in their homes. If they are unable to stay in their homes for safety situations or concerns, we are hoping to be able to support them through the Housing Corporation and other partners in independent living units in many of our communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

One of our last resorts, Mr. Speaker, is long-term care. Recognizing that long-term care facilities are level 3/4 facilities where individuals cannot live independently, they need full-time, 24/7 care. It has always been this way. Long-term care facilities are located at regional centres. The reason they are in regional centres is because that is where physician positions are located. We need to be able to ensure that the residents of these long-term care facilities are receiving fully competent, safe services in communities where physicians are located. We do not provide long-term care facilities in many of our smaller communities, where we cannot provide that level of safety and care.