Glen Abernethy

We are committed to working with Avens. We will continue to work with Avens. We’re waiting for them to come forward in this collaborative team, this steering committee, to come forward with a plan and a suggestion on how we should move forward. We don’t know that that’s going to be full-on GNWT capital or whether there are going to be some other opportunities. We’re exploring all of those opportunities at this time, and obviously, we’d like to see some partners come in on this.

At the same time, this report, this work that the committee is doing will come to us shortly. But the Member knows...

I am. Nobody approached me and said, we want to build Avens. The first I became aware of it is when I was approached by Avens and they said, we want to build and extend Avens, and that is something that I am committed to working towards. They first approached the department. Their first discussion with Avens was October…no, June 2013. So it’s great that they were talking about it for years. It might have been great if maybe they had started to engage with the department sooner.

In the meantime, Bob, I mean MLA for Weledeh, we are committed to working with… We are working closely with them. I’ve...

We are aware of the desires of Avens to expand the kitchen and improve it. We are working closely with them to make sure that we can find a way to move forward collaboratively together. We will continue to do that. We are waiting for the report to come from this committee, this steering committee, on the whole plan for the Avens facility, and we look forward to seeing it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The Health and Social Services has obviously been participating in the working group that’s moving forward with this Stanton renewal, and our objective is to make sure that that building meets our clinical and functional needs and we continue to make sure that all the proponents, including Public Works and Services and Finance, are aware of our technical needs because we need to make sure that that building meets our functional needs today, tomorrow and into the future.

I just want to go back to Avens for a second because when I mentioned that the first time anybody ever approached...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a number of people in the gallery today. First I’d like to recognize some second-year contemporary social welfare policy class from Aurora College and they are Phuong Bui, Alyssa Carpenter, Kyla Cherwaty, Noel Hernandez, Gerri Hunter, Alanna Menard, Lauren Moir, Stephanie Rabesca, Kassandra Spoelder, Jordon Moffitt and Rhea Kaye, and I apologize if I got any of those names wrong.

I’d also like to recognize a number of fourth-year nursing students. Allison Andrews, Alyssa Bird, Michael Bishop, Caro Cheiner, Jessica Harrison, Samantha Hicks, Simone...

Thank you. I’m not saying that it’s all done, because we know that we need to continue to move forward to ensure that the beds meet our future and long-term needs.

I can say that over the last eight years we have invested around $86 million in developing and expanding long-term care facilities in the Northwest Territories, so we continue to plug at this, we continue to address this. Like I said, I, as much as anybody, want to see that new facility and the upgrades of the existing Avens facility done. I would like to see those 55 beds available in Yellowknife.

The next topic that the Member...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m absolutely happy to share that report on the pilings. Yes, we know that there are some other challenges with the facility for it to continue as a health centre, which is why the health centre is still in the planning process. We are, I believe, currently doing the planning study and it will take several more months to complete, but I believe that’s happening in this fiscal year. So we’ll be able to come forward with more information on that as that planning study moves towards completion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have already indicated to the Member, we are going to have a Traditional Foods Facilities Action Plan and Recommendations, January 2015, for review by Regular Members and consideration so that we can move forward and do exactly what the Member is asking us to do. January 15th is well before the writ drops in the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member as well as other Members have actually asked this question before. Following up from those requests for information and the desire to have more traditional foods in our facilities, which we agree is an incredibly important thing to do, our traditional foods help to promote healing, healthy eating and all those types of things. So the Department of Health and Social Services is currently doing some research and developing an action plan to improve the availability of traditional foods within our facilities.

The Traditional Foods and Facilities Action Plan and...

We have gone to the Beaufort-Delta and started having some initial conversations with the people in the health centre there. They raised concerns that are unique to their own hospitals or health centres. We want to make sure that the Midwifery Program works in the regions and communities based on the protocols that already exist in those areas. That would have to be true coming into Yellowknife. We would have to make sure it works in the system and in the infrastructure that we have here.

The Deh Cho is different, once again, in that they don’t actually have a hospital. They have regional...