Mr. Speaker, what is the plan to communicate this to Members and the public, and is there a way to get this sorted out before the weekend? Because we have them steeling fences now, and it's been reported to the RCMP. I have the file number. Mr. Speaker, is there a way to get this into action before the weekend before more destruction and safety become compromised? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not -- I haven't been a part of those conversations with the legal representatives. I haven't actually gone down to the encampment and spoken with the folks there. So I can't tell the Member or the House what their desire is to move at this point. Maybe they have no plans to move and even if we had a great spot for them, they wouldn't want to go. So I can't make any commitment about what a private citizen is going to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not really hearing the government wants to do anything other than wait. Are they going -- is the plan to wait and sit this out, or is the plan to actually engage and try to put better options on the table so businesses, the community, will feel safe again, Mr. Speaker, and a responsible place for them to go could be quickly identified on NWT lands. Will the Minister -- or sorry, will the Premier step up, maybe even meet with these people, and to have this conversation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'll answer one of the questions in there. So what's happening now is that the different entities who are involved in this are meeting. The Government of the Northwest Territories, the city of Yellowknife, the RCMP, a number of different organizations are all meeting. Everyone is coordinating, putting their mind towards this issue. We are looking at more suitable locations and then working with the folks at the encampment and their legal representatives to try and relocate to those suitable locations. And we're identifying any other barriers that might exist, any other reasons why people might be setting up encampments and why they might not be moving those encampments. So all of that work is happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, I was contacted by two very distraught seniors who were charged full price for over-the-counter medicine that should have been covered by supplementary and extended health benefits. I'd like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services why this was the case. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there was charges to anyone who was on senior health benefits that was charged for over-the-counter drugs, I would suggest them reach out to my office or to their MLA because those charges shouldn't -- before -- I'll clarify, shouldn't have been charged under what was going to be proposed but after I took further -- looked at it further and began to kind of pull it apart a little bit, when I asked the questions as to why these changes in pharmaceuticals were being changed and why we were getting these e-mails from seniors because it was extended health benefits, we try to keep in line all of our benefits, and so there are some changes that ends up happening with NIHB and the pharmaceutical things change all the time. And so I did stop it, and as the Member has said, that I would be looking into and not necessarily saying that it's going to affect seniors. What I'm saying is that we are looking at what change made that was actually going to implement, why it was going to impact seniors, and how are we doing this across the equitable lens of NIHB, Metis benefits, and our extended benefits, because my understanding is those are all supposed to be the same, except for with the hierarchy of the income testing on the extended health benefits. So if there are charges to seniors, please reach out because those shouldn't have been charged. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. And I want to recognize the Minister did stop it, and I thank her for that. But Mr. Speaker, why did these happen in the first place if they're only being looked at? Why was this implemented and then rolled back? Is this a case of a runaway department, or is the Minister making these decisions herself? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, what I would like to say is the benefit -- pharmacy -- I don't know how to say it very easily without a lot of words in this time because our medical -- our extended health benefits is multiple programs together. So pharmacy goes through Alberta, and there is the changes that were made and they implement our senior benefits and our extended health benefits and our Metis benefits. But for each program, they're supposed to be simultaneously done. The one thing that we were looking at under Restoring Balance was how do we -- you know, if there's changes to over-the-counter drugs, if they're in other areas, then they should all fall in line. And then when that came back, there were some changes in some, then because of the way it goes through Alberta Blue Cross, you know, we -- it went across the board which it shouldn't have because things are -- they're all different within their system. So I needed to have more clarity of what went -- why that happened. We do not administer the Blue Cross. We give them the information, and they're supposed to do this so that's why I stopped it. It shouldn't have affected the senior benefits.

After further looking at it and having more conversations, it's -- like, one of the things that I did ask is why are we being charged so much when it looks like there's 63 percent of the fees of the over-the-counter charges are for pharmacy services. So on a $3 prescription of something, we're being charged an extra $15 for that. So how can we do it different so that we're -- these are over-the-counter drugs. How can we do it different that we're not having to pay that much costs.

And then so looking at the cost of it, I just said let's just stop it, we'll do more investigation as to what went wrong with the senior benefits and just ensuring that all of our other benefits are streamlined across so that way it's not affecting anybody inequitably. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier -- Premier. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services give northern seniors her word that there will be no increases to seniors' benefits, no cuts to seniors' benefits, for as long as she is Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as long as I am the Minister, there will be no changes to the senior benefits as all of the benefits that are on the table -- like I said, even with the extended benefits, those changes, we're going to be doing the review so those discussions will happen later on this winter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seniors aging in place. Mr. Speaker, helping NWTs live independently at home for as long as possible is important. We know that. My neighbour in Behchoko lived at home to the wonderful age of 99 years old. We called her momma-cho. Housing NWT has a senior aging in place program with funding available for residents 60 and older to lower home energy costs or to do home repairs. So one of the questions, Mr. Speaker, one of the requirements for seniors aging in place funding is that the residents owns a home.

Can the Minister outline what specific policies are in place to lower home energy costs or to complete repairs for elders who are currently renting Housing NWT units or do not yet own a home? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Housing NWT has various housing programs, housing assistance programs, to help those that need to upgrade their home, renovate their home, have their home become more energy efficient. There's different type of programs like the senior aging in place. We have a mobility program. We have an emergency repair program. We have a number of different programs that are advertised throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister say how long elders are waiting for housing and is NWT Housing developing any rent-to-own program for elders? Thank you.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Okay, thank you. So what is the difference between seniors aging in place program and the seniors home repair programs and what are -- and are there any comparable programs for elders renting a unit, who are renting? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the seniors home repair program and the senior aging in place program, these are complementary programs that Housing NWT offers throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.