Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the NWT, healthcare services for seniors are classified according to the level of care required by the patients. This ranges from homecare and supported living to long-term care for elders with complex needs.

The Deh Gah Got'ie senior's home in Fort Providence isn't really part of that spectrum. Although it has been renovated in the past, it is designed for independent living. It is meant for people who do not require regular support at all. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services and the NWT Housing Corporation visited the facility during a recent tour. To address this, Fort Providence leaders want a long-term facility established in our community. It might be made capable of providing that care.

Instead, Mr. Speaker, the department intends to regionalize long-term care. That means beds are centred at larger facilities in larger communities, and that in small communities elders have to move. The department argues that community based long-term care is impossible, that economies of scale work against us, that it simply cannot be done.

I have seen the numbers, Mr. Speaker. I know how many beds we need, and how much it would cost to build and operate them. I know why the department favours regionalization, but I need you to understand why I cannot support that argument, because it smacks of the residential school experience, Mr. Speaker.

Under the residential school system, the state used its power to split First Nations communities and families and force First Nations children from their homes. Now, the government tells us, our elders, that if they want to place in long-term care, they must leave their communities, their families, and their homes. Even if the department does not intend this comparison, they must still understand how their decisions are experienced in the communities. Money might be saved, but it is saved on the backs of First Nations, people uprooted from their homes.

This government has committed to prioritizing aging in place and to fulfill the TRC's calls to action, and the regionalization of long-term care is inconsistent with those calls to action. There must be a solution that does not repeat the wounds of the residential school system. There is no other option that I could accept. Masi, Mr. Speaker.