Julie Green

What I heard is that land will not be available in some areas until all land claims are settled. I’m wondering how we can sustain the growth of the agriculture sector if there is going to be no additional land available for the production of food.

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.

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...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister look at the possibility of a P3 arrangement to provide this kind of care for seniors? Thank you. Mahsi.

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 longterm 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 longterm care needs that are currently inappropriately housed. What kinds of shortterm solutions might the government be able to offer these seniors?

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...

I won't repeat the points that have been made by my colleagues, although I agree with them. This document reflects some of the major points that I campaigned on. The process has not been very gratifying. When the document was created, I thought that we had an agreement to make a limited number of very specific priorities for the Assembly, but it turned out that refining the document meant adding so that we went from five major areas to, I don't know, 137 subareas or something like that, and in the process what we lost was the ability to make SMART goals. What I mean by that is the acronym...

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, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge the passing of Esther Braden. Mrs. Braden arrived in Yellowknife with her husband and five children in 1964 and she soon became a tireless and indispensible volunteer in our community. She most recently was involved with the Hard of Hearing Association and with the seniors, and she was a frequent entertainer at Aven Manor often playing the piano, which was a true love of hers. Her efforts earned her an Order of Canada in 2006. Mrs. Braden helped build Yellowknife in her reflection: kind and caring. As well as her own contributions to public...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday the Regular Members of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning issued a media release to give our view of the budgetary process now underway, and to propose some priorities for measures and public consultation. I would like to add that information to the record here by speaking of it. The government's media release of February 9, 2016 said, “The GNWT is committed to working closely with MLAs to identify practical solutions to the fiscal challenge,” and that “The GNWT will develop proposals and share them with MLAs for input prior to...