Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the plan for the extended care beds is that, once the new hospital is completed and the services are moved into the new building and the old hospital is vacated, we will then work with the property manager of that building, who will do the capital asset retrofits on that building to meet our specs and our needs.

Our costs on this would be structures and beds and other medical equipment, which is a capital purchase, but not necessarily the cost of doing the changes on that building. That should start, design is expected to start, in early 2018. Construction is expected in late 2019 after they move out of there, and we're hoping to be in there by eighteen months after we start the retrofit of that building to meet the extended care needs.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you very much for outlining that schedule. What I don't see here is the 72 beds that have been discussed for long-term care that I understand will also be part of the old hospital. Could the Minister elaborate on when the equivalent work will be done for the long-term care beds as there are for the extended care? Thank you

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the scenario for those 72 long-term care beds is pretty much exactly the same as the scenario for the extended-care beds. We have to wait until they get out of the old hospital, then the property manager will do the retrofits on the building to meet the needs that we have identified for 72 long-term care beds, which will be funded through O and M. I think it's best to maybe go to Mr. Elkin for just a little bit more specifics on the technicalities around that.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Elkin.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you. That tells me why we don't see the 72 beds in here. Now, a number of years ago Avens did some site preparation to build a building that they called the pavilion, which was going to include long-term care beds, so how does that work into this plan? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we had had a number of discussions with Avens on the 48 beds, but in light of the fact that we have to accommodate or come up with a plan to address 258 beds across the Northwest Territories, not just in Yellowknife, and we wanted to be able to roll those out across the Territories as a whole as opposed to putting the 200 beds in Yellowknife immediately and then having a significant deficit across the Territories, we have decided to move forward with a plan, or we're proposing to move forward with a plan, that puts the 72 long-term care beds in Yellowknife with designing starting in January 2018, construction in fall 2019, and we're hoping those beds are available as soon as April 2021.

We're looking at 48 long-term care beds in Hay River for the South Slave. We're hoping to get that in the capital plan for this capital plan. Planning is going to begin immediately; design, March 2018. We're hoping to see construction in 2019 and beds available as soon as 2020. The money that's in here is the planning money for 48 long-term care beds in Inuvik. What we're hoping is to see that work done, permafrost studies, all those types of things done. Capital plan submission March 2018 for the 2019-2020 budget; designing 2019; construction 2020. Beds available as soon as April 2023.

Then we are looking at 48 long-term care beds, which is a net new 28 to replace, to move forward in Simpson as part of a long-term care facility and health centre. Feasibility study in October 2017. Capital plan submission, March 2019. Planning could start as soon as 2020. Design 2021, construction 2022. Beds available by 2026.

Then, the last in line, because we had dealt with Yellowknife first with the 72 beds, is 48 beds in the Avens compound. The project is required to meet the remaining 2026 bed requirements for the Northwest Territories.

Recognizing that we are moving forward with Avens later in the plan as opposed to the front of the plan, we have put money into this budget to construct a laundry facility and a kitchen facility to help them be sustainable over that time. Also, they approached us indicating that the cost of that site that they have blasted is proven to be difficult, and we have agreed to cover their cost, $1.1 million for that site, so that they are no longer financially on the hook.

In discussions with Avens, it has become clear that they are certainly interested in exploring that site for other purposes, other needs. Avens is still part of the big plan.

Thank you, Minister. Anything further, Ms. Green?

I will read Hansard to just make sure that I know exactly the dates that things are happening on. That was a whackload of information, but that is all good.

At the bigger level, was there any consideration given to putting the pavilion, what they call the pavilion, 48 beds, online first and retrofitting the hospital second instead of the other way around? Would that have been more cost effective and put the beds online sooner? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. There are 20 seconds left to answer this, and I will remind everyone that we do have the details to consider after the general comments. Minister.

I will do my best in 20 seconds, but with no guarantees. Bottom line is, we are trying to get value for money here, and trying to get as many beds in place as quickly as we can, and the opportunity of utilizing the old Stanton Building presented a significant opportunity to get a large number of beds in a very affordable manner, and increased a number of beds available to residents in the Northwest Territories.

The Avens, we did give them some planning money. The costs came in significantly higher than we anticipated, which was problematic, and was not going to move us necessarily much faster along on getting beds. We get more beds with the hospital than we did with Avens in a quicker time, and more affordable.

Thank you, Minister. Next, I have Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a general question, and I was cheered by the Minister's statement, and I applaud the Minister in terms of making efforts to support seniors to live in their own homes as long as possible. In that effort, he has stated that there has been some work done with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. We have always encouraged departments not to work in silos, to cooperate with other departments. In this case, in this instance, it seems that efforts had been made in that area.

Elders live in their own homes and, of course, those homes are occupied on land. Those were considered capital assets. What kind of arrangement, if any, has been discussed relating to homes in the hands of seniors, whether they can live in their own homes for as long as possible?

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are a couple of different ways that we are supporting this. Some of this is through O and M and the department. We are looking at family or community caregivers. We are looking at enhanced homecare. We are looking at a number of different things within the department. The department has also worked very closely with the Housing Corporation. I applaud the Housing Corporation for the work they have done to try to put in more programs, to make them a little easier and a little bit more accessible for seniors to do some mods or retrofits on their houses so that they can stay in their houses longer. An individual may have some limited mobility but still be quite mobile and be able to stay in their house with a few little fixes, like ramps or other things.

I know the Minister, I have been in communities with the Minister when she said they work with the community to find ways to help with ramps and other things that will allow individuals to stay in their homes longer. It does take a partnership. It does take both departments working together with the goal of supporting aging in place, and the Housing Corporation, I feel, has stood up quite well.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is highly probable that that could serve as a classic example in terms of best practices of two departments working cooperatively in partnership. The other question that I have was: was there a formal understanding or arrangements between the two departments about perhaps scoping out just the partnership arrangement in terms of how it is that we are going to enable seniors to live in their own homes, and on land that is occupied, too? What I am drawing upon is that some elders unfortunately fall within the threshold of having to deal with some dilemmas, and one of them is arrears and outstanding land taxes and so forth. Would that perhaps scope of partnership arrangement cover that? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have had a good relationship with the Housing Corporation, and we have looked at things like I mentioned, like retrofitting. Not retrofitting, sorry. Our new independent living units have program space and those types of things. I don't actually know enough about the land lease question to answer that question fully, but I will commit to working with the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation to get the answers that the Member is looking for.

Thank you, Minister. I see nothing further from Mr. Nadli. Next, I have Mr. Beaulieu.