Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a family doctor is largely unavailable to most residents. It is foreign to us in small communities. Can the Minister explain how primary health care reform will lead to having more doctors and nurses in small communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, primary care reform -- you know, as it's rolling out into the small communities, what we do have actually is a form of primary care in the communities right now. But what we need to be doing is we need to be looking at all of our communities, and that's what the working group is established for small communities and health cabins, to be looking at what are the needs of those communities and how are we going to be able to provide the services that are needed in those small communities, knowing that not every small community is going to have a resident physician. You know, they will -- but maybe there is a different makeup of frontline staff that -- like, especially in Indigenous communities, can we get more local people that are in the communities to train and do certain jobs? That is one area.

Another area is physicians. And, you know, the Tlicho is actually doing this, and some of the other regions now, is they're having appointments with a physician that can't always be in all the communities but can be virtually. And being able to have that connection with a nurse there and then a physician to be able to, you know, walk through some of those conditions. It's opening up our -- we're expanding on how we're utilizing our services and our technology to improve the care in the smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

As I spoke about in my Member's statement, organizations such as the Yellowknife Seniors' Society have been advocating strongly for the adult day program to be re-established in Yellowknife, particularly to support seniors with dementia and their caregivers. So what consultation has the department done specifically with organizations and families supporting seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's to assess the need for such an adult day program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been no consultation done since 2019 review of the adult day program in Yellowknife which included a survey of home care clients and their families in Yellowknife and that the end results showed that there was no need for an adult day program. In 2019, there were preliminary discussions with NGOs about the potential to take on running an adult day program, but there was no interest and there was no feedback provided as to the funding amount. The department has completed the new long-term care standards that includes where available and how adult day activities may be provided within long-term care facilities. They may be provided to long-term care residents in community dwellings, adults who may have positions or cognitive impairments and living with chronic illness. Within the staffing model for long-term care, there are activity aides or recreational therapy positions, but this is geared towards providing supports to the residents that live in long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I -- I think the Minister perhaps anticipated my second question here, but. And I would just point out, you know, that home care clients may be a different audience or different group than specifically people supporting seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's.

But can the Minister explain what is done to consider the feasibility of opening up day programming beyond the live-in long-term care residents at our long-term care facilities and whether other, like drop-in clients could be included in some of that programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the department reached out to home care families, those families are a variety of issues that, you know, they're from families that are providing care to young children to members with -- like, with dementia. And I encourage if there were no -- if they're living with people with dementia and supporting family members that home care is a support. So if they're not accessing that service, I just want to make sure that they know that that's a service that they can be accessing. But currently, the NTHSSA does not have funding for -- for the question providing -- opening up day programming in the long-term residents. So the funding that is in long-term care is for full scale admissions and to being able to provide programming only to those residents that are in there at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could commit to come back to me or come back to this House with some information about how much funding the department had been willing to offer in the RFPs that it had previously put out for an adult day program and examine opportunities for that amount of funding to, you know, be added on perhaps to current programming in long-term care facilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as many know how our budget works, that when the NTHSSA or the health authority gets their money dedicated to providing services, whatever that amount was in 2019 or prior to that may -- you know, will be -- has been reallocated to other areas that are supporting long term and community care programming. So if the department has to go back and look at committing to reviewing options, these options would be necessary -- like, if there's options, they're going to need funding, and what we can -- what we are looking at is piloting in the new year programming that could be worked alongside in our long-term care once we've had admissions here for those home care clients and looking at how that would be funded. So that's something that is in the works, in the planning, but it would need to have funds for that approved to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. These questions are to the Minister of health. Can the Minister say what specific measures the Department of Health and Social Services is taking to address the issue of elder abuse, particularly in relation to financial exploitation and neglect with our small communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, elder abuse is a whole-of-government approach. The Department of Health and Social Services runs a territorial-wide annual elder abuse awareness campaign in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The department also maintains web pages and prints resources with information about elder abuse and available services. Most recently, the 2024 Seniors Information Handbook incorporated a more robust safety and security section covering consumer protection, emergency food and shelter, preventing and reporting crime, which includes frauds, scams, and cybercrime, legal programs and services. The handbook also includes contact information for a wide range of government, not for profit Indigenous governments and organizations and community level programs and services. The department is in the process of drafting material to inform the development of training for service providers to recognize and respond to elder abuse. The department also provides funding to support the NWT Senior's Society for a variety of initiatives including workshops related to empowering seniors, community members to identify and address elder abuse. Older adults experiencing elder abuse may also access other services such as community counselling support, referrals through various help lines, emergency shelters, justice-related services such as community-based victim services and court orders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Can the Minister explain how the department is working with local organizations like the Dene Nation and other organizations for the prevention of abuse and family violence to ensure that elders receive the necessary support such as assistance with daily tasks and companionship. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department commits to looking into the Member -- with the Dene Nation, whatever services that they're providing, we can get back to the Member on if there has been conversations back and forth with the Dene Nation. But the senior handbook does provide a lot of resources to ensure that elders receive necessary supports. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, given the increased concerns about drug-related exploitation of elders in our communities, can the Minister say what steps the department is taking to collaborate with law enforcement and social services to ensure elders' safety?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to remind all residents NWT family violence supports are available for all residents, and that includes elders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about Jordan's Principle and the troubling developments that, although there are good reasons to look at the eligibility funding, it was so open beforehand that schools really didn't have to worry about this, and now they may have to. So I know that schools are worried about whether they can continue to provide supports to First Nations students. So I'm wondering what is the Minister's plan if that funding is either -- is diminished in whatever capacity. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.