Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe the RFP says, "frail elders." So I think that's where the priority is being placed, but I accept the need for flexibility and we'll see what kind of proposals we get. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Member's point, and I accept what she's saying. When the assessment was done, it was felt that the highest need was for frailty, and we wanted to make sure that we nailed the highest need. I take the Member's point and we'll certainly continue to have those discussions with the deputy and the department to make sure that they're considering that. Like I said, we haven't seen any proposals yet, and if we find that we have missed something in the future, we're certainly willing to explore it again. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just want to turn now to some questions about the proposed new caregiver program. I know a colleague of mine asked some questions about this the other the day, but I just want to clarify a few things. First, the Minister mentioned that there was vision screening and hearing testing available; and I just wanted to know where and when these services are being offered. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair; and I hate to do this, but I'm not sure I understand. What specific area or what specific section are you making reference to, again? Just for clarity.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm talking about the caregiver program. Is this not in this section? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

The paid caregiver program? Okay. So, Mr. Chair, the paid caregivers is one of the action items within the action plan that is put together for the Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. We do have some federal money that, obviously, doesn't appear in this budget, that we've been able to obtain from the federal government to do some design and some piloting on those paid caregivers. Now, it could be one of a number of things: one of them would be family support; one of them could be different people in the community. We are using those federal dollars to develop some different pilots, so that we can go out and test them over the coming years, so that we can make informed decisions on how to invest future money in this area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, during the business planning process, the committee was informed the options to consider and recommendations for program development will be determined by April 30, 2018. Is that still the schedule? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we're still tracking towards that date; that's our hope and our expectation. I accept that weirder things have happened. If we have any difficulties or any challenges that we are not going to hit our targets, I will certainly let committee know.

Minister.

Mr. Chair, I understand that some of the bilateral money has actually been included in here, so it is shown right on this page. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

Thank you, Minister. I just remind you to let us know when you're done talking so the sound technicians can switch the mics. Ms. Green.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to more detail on that. Now, I have a couple of questions on homecare services. We have been told that there is a homecare study that's been undertaken. Could the Minister please update us on the progress of that study? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the RFP for that work has just been released. The intention is for a review to be done of the scope and needs across this territory, in comparison to what we currently have, so that we can have some informed discussions about where future, if any, resources need to be employed to meet homecare needs in the Northwest Territories. So the RFP has just been released. Thank you, Mr. Chair.