Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Any further general comments? Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of years ago when the Dene K’onia Young Offender Facility in Hay River was closed down, a need came to light which the GNWT responded to, and a facility called the assisted living facility in Hay River was built for adults who needed to be in residential care. It was an excellent addition to the infrastructure and the economy and to the service spectrum in Hay River and in the North for adults primarily with intellectual challenges.

This facility is managed by the Hay River Health Authority, and I believe it is doing an excellent job. They have 10 permanent beds...

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. I will now turn to Members and ask if they have any general comments on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Is committee agreed?

I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. The next department before us is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to ask Minister Lafferty if he would like to present his opening comments on the department. Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Is committee agreed?

The planes fly both ways. Maybe we should be looking at building some facilities here in the Northwest Territories, and if we didn’t have enough people with specialized need that required that care, we could actually probably take some of the pressure off some of the provinces and have the people come this way.

I would like to ask the Minister if he ever gets any pushback or any concern raised by families. I mean, we’re raising this here in the House and we’re talking about it from the point of view of economics and economy and work. But from that personal human interest side of the folks that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about the Hay River Hospital. When the addition was put on the old hospital and the new hospital, it was state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology with all of the supplies at the door of the rooms. It was an amazing day. I was there in the audience at the ribbon cutting for that new hospital.

That hospital has many happy memories – I had three children in there – and some sad memories. I said goodbye to some dear friends that were there, some elderly folks, and I even had a chance to work there and my husband worked there.

For a government that says they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all can speak of our elders here in this House and today I’d like to send a hello out to Mrs. Helen Kinnison in Hay River. I think of her today as I was thinking of something that I could wear to match my jacket and I found the necklace and earrings that she made for me about 20 years ago, which are made out of fish bones from fish out of Great Slave Lake that are dyed and were put together in jewelry.

Thank you, Mr. Aumond. Mr. Bromley.