Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have many of our elders living in the smaller communities of the Beaufort Delta region. In this Assembly, we have seen the plans change the Inuvik long-term care facility. Originally, the building was set to house 48 seniors and now it is down to 16. Mr. Speaker, I support a reduction in the size of this facility as long as this reduction provides enough beds that are required.
As I have heard from elders in my previous roles, they do not want to leave their home community. I do not want to see our elders being sent out of their communities to be housed in a 48-bed facility where they are not with their families, their grandchildren, their language, and their social and cultural supports. My concern, Mr. Speaker, is how and where are the savings from this change the capital planning is used to support home care services in small communities.
For regional long-term care facilities being reduced in size, how is the government supporting communities to be able to care for elders at home? In all our small communities of not only my region but the Northwest Territories, the nurses on staff are also expected to provide the care for elders in addition to their other duties. There is no designated home care nursing position to support the home support workers, and there's no seven-days-a-week care.
Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most important service to be provided for elders and their families, to ensure that they can age in place with dignity. Because there is not enough home care support and after hours support in small communities, elders have little choice but to relocate to receive better care.
Mr. Speaker, it is this government's priority to support elders to age in place with dignity. We cannot achieve this without an increase in home care nurses and home support workers in the small communities. Increasing home care support in small communities also supports another government priority to increase employment in small communities. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause.