Thank you, Mr. Minister. Now, there was going to be money set aside from an athletes’ village for the Canada Winter Games, which is likely not going to be needed because the bid won't take place. Is it possible to use that money and multiply it with federal money in order to provide an additional $24 million to go into seniors’ care?

Thank you, Minister, for that response and for that new information that quantifies the size of the problem. It's actually much larger than I had anticipated. There's some long-term work that needs to be done, but there are immediate needs, too, that come out of our broken continuum of housing for seniors, with these seniors who have dementia and long-term care needs that are currently inappropriately housed. What kinds of short-term solutions might the government be able to offer these seniors?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors. How is the government preparing for the greater number of seniors and their needs? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge and congratulate Janet Diveky on her retirement from Public Works and Services. Mrs. Diveky taught throughout the Arctic before moving to Yellowknife with her husband and family in 1988. She joined Public Works and Services as a Library Technician then and again in 2003, with a return to teaching in-between. Mrs. Diveky is known for her volunteer efforts, especially with the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. She's also well known for her skills as a potter. I'd like to congratulate Mrs. Diveky on her career at Public Works and Services and wish her and her family well in her retirement.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT's population of older adults is projected to grow dramatically in the next ten years. The number of adults over age 75 across the NWT is expected to double, and here in Yellowknife it's expected to triple. These numbers come from a strategic plan developed by Avens: A Community for Seniors. If we want these seniors, along with their transfer payments and consumer spending, to stay in the NWT, we need to offer them affordable housing. Instead of enjoying a comfortable and secure old age, many seniors in Yellowknife face long waitlists to access the housing they need. A total of 54 people are on the waiting list to get into Aven Ridge and Aven Court. They're going to wait a long time for those 32 units. In fact, if you join the list today, you may wait as long as six years for a unit to become available. Meanwhile, people who are unable to live independently are also waitlisted for long-term care at Aven Manor and the Territorial Dementia Facility. The situation of people who are waiting for long-term and dementia care is especially troubling. Here's why: One of my constituents has been living independently all his adult life. He's now in his late 60s. But he's developing dementia. He lives alone. Sometimes he walks away from where he lives very late at night, not dressed properly for the weather, confused and unable to find his way home. His dementia is putting him in danger. Family have been helping. They take turns cooking for him and they take him to medical appointments, but they have full-time jobs so it's hard to keep him safe on a 24-hour-a-day basis. Neighbours keep an eye out for him, too. His doctor believes the best place for him to go is the Territorial Dementia Facility, but it's full. He was offered a spot in Fort Smith, but his family said no because they all live here in Yellowknife and he has lived here all his life. He doesn't know anyone in Fort Smith. His family is worried that he is now at the bottom of the waiting list because he won't move. The GNWT informally committed $12.5 million to building an athletes’ village for the 2023 Canada Winter Games with an additional matching amount from the federal government. Now it looks as if we won't need an athletes’ village because there isn't enough public support to bid on those games. May I seek unanimous consent, Mr. Speaker, to conclude my statement? Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now it looks like we won't need an athletes’ village because there isn't enough public support to bid on those Games, but we still need the housing. I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors about committing money pledged for the athletes’ village to seniors' housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm looking for a commitment from the Minister of Finance to follow evidence-based decision making in developing his budget. That would mean not only looking at the fiscal benefits of investing in infrastructure, but also in the potential problems of cuts, not only to the people who are working now, but to the possibility that they may also leave the territory and take their share of the Territorial Formula Financing funding with them. My question to the Minister is: Will he commit to evidence-based decision making in this budgetary proces

Thank you for that commitment. I urge you to make good your promises for collaboration and open government by consulting people in whatever manner is feasible within the time that is available. This is a very significant change in direction for the NWT and I think that people will want to have their say on it. Further to your fiscal statement today, as you know, government jobs are very valuable jobs, especially in the small communities. I'm wondering whether you have done any analysis of the impact of the loss of jobs at the local level and that you'd be able to share with u

Mr. Speaker, I don't think that hoping the public will give their input into the budget process is a very systematic response to the scale of change that the government is planning to make. Therefore, I would like to hear that the government is going to attempt some consultation on the budget in the next few weeks, whether that means visiting communities, having an online tool available, or putting ads in the paper, that there is a mechanism for people to respond to the big changes that are coming their wa

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance. Today the Minister of Finance in his update is asking us to consider a 10 per cent cut in the territorial budget in the order of $150 million. Yesterday, in the Opening Address, the government said they want people to see collaboration and collective decision-making aimed at addressing pressing challenges together, so with those two things in mind, I would like to ask the Minister of Finance what the plan is for consulting the public about the next budget.