Deputy Minister.

Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I just wanted that clarification. My next question is in regards to the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care agreement. I understand that some of that is found within the respites one, but under the revenue stream, it shows that there is almost $8.5 million coming in with that agreement. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to where else within the budget that money falls. Thank you.

Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to refer the question to the director of finance.

Ms. Mathison.

Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The money that falls under the long-term care, is it just given to long-term care facilities? Is it given out based on application? Is it automatically given out based on size of the long-term care facility? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is only one non-government long-term care facility in the NWT, and it is Avens. There is a small portion of a supplementary appropriation that was included in the current fiscal year to assist them. Otherwise, to the best of my knowledge, this money goes to the long-term care that is operated by the GNWT throughout the NWT. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. As the number of seniors within the territory increases, especially over the next decade, we might see more people, similar to staff at Avens, interested in participating in long-term care throughout the Northwest Territories. Is the Department of Health and Social Services reviewing the amount of financial assistance that it provides to non-government supportive living for seniors? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. There is only one service provider in that area, and that is Avens. Avens, I know, is reviewing its own set of services as it moves forward with its independent living offering at the pavilion. We are also, of course, looking at additional long-term care beds in the Stanton legacy hospital. This is an area where there is some churn going on at the moment, and we continue to collaborate and try to figure out how to support one another to provide the best service to seniors. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Given that we are in a pandemic and that the costs associated with the pandemic are much higher, is there talk right now about providing further financial support to places like Avens to account for the increase in cost to care for seniors at this moment in time? Thank you.

Minister.

Thank you. It's my understanding that the Department of Finance is leading the negotiations, or perhaps it's the Premier, or maybe it's both, who are leading the collection of information and negotiations with the federal government for additional pandemic response money. Those negotiations are not complete, so that money is not included in this budget at this time. We did provide for pandemic-related spending to Avens during the course of the last year. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. My next question is in regards to the workers that work in the long-term care facilities, especially with the personal support program. It's a great program, and one I definitely fully support. I think it's great for people to be able to help care for family members. I believe the program at Aurora College is 10 months long, where they can go, get training, help care for seniors and people who are important to them in their life, and I am definitely supportive of that. One thing that I believe Ryerson does is: if you're taking a nursing degree through Ryerson University, they actually have it structured so that, following your first year of nursing, you finish that first year as a personal support worker. I'm wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services is working with Aurora College to potentially pursue that so that all of our nursing students are personal support workers. That way if, for some reason, they need to take a break from nursing, they can walk right into employment; or if they need some summer employment, it's another way to get into the community and get working right away. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

I don't see that there is a linkage between those two programs, but I'd like to refer this question to the deputy minister, please.