Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Just a quick question. In regard to the long-term care facility for Fort Simpson, it was originally planned with a hospital. Is this still the plan? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Abernethy.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Thompson.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you for that clarification. Can the Minister just briefly explain why we have separated these two facilities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

A couple of different reasons; the long-term care facility is going to be significantly larger than the long-term care facility that we have today. We are moving to a 48-bed facility in that community in that region, so it is going to be significantly larger than the one that is there today. When you look at the footprints that are available to us in the community, if you look at a health centre and a long-term care facility on the land that is available to us, we can't get, I think, the whole footprint onto similar properties, which is the reality of the community and the property that is available to us now. Also, we are still having discussions on alternate methods to move forward with procurement of long-term care facility with partners and those types of things.

We also know that, the footprint of the old health centre in Simpson, there is no safety or facility concerns. The building is still able to meet the program requirements at this points, and we were worried about the construction of the facility previously, and those concerns have been alleviated. We have more time on that health centre than we thought we did originally, but we have a demand for long-term care beds to 2026. The two no longer align as nicely as we thought they did.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Next, we have Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am wondering if the Minister could provide some detail of the item with the title "Yellowknife Vulnerable Persons Shelter." What is this building about? Where is it going to be located? Who is paying for it, or what portion is the GNWT's, and so on?

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through the federal government, we have around $5 million available for vulnerable person-type shelters here in the Northwest Territories, in Yellowknife in particular. This would be an evolution from what we see at the day shelter, sobering shelter, today.

I have often made reference that we have this federal money coming. We are going to learn from the sobering centre, we are going to learn from the day shelter, but we are also going to learn from additional programs that people have been asking about, things like managed alcohol programs and other things. We don't have full design on the building yet. We are reviewing the different programs that are out there, but this will be a more permanent design purpose building to meet some of the challenges that we are facing in Yellowknife and Yellowknife's downtown core.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Nothing further. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Any further comments or questions? Health and Social Services, community health programs, infrastructure investments, $47,937,000. Does committee agree?