Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the Member’s concern. It is one of the issues I am working on: how to bring the control and the…. I do agree with the Member that the best solutions in healing and grieving and wellness are to be found in communities. I do agree with the Member that we need to revisit the way we are doing that. I’m willing to do that, and I’m willing to work on the proposal and present that to the Members and the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

The problem has never been with the local dentists. Obviously, the dentists would be happy if the government provided a service and facility to provide their services. That is not really the issue. The issue is putting the burden on…. I understand that this is a huge issue for parents with children who need to have dental surgery. What we need to remember is that health care costs are under pressure. We can’t do everything for everybody. And when we have limited dollars, we have do what we are required to do by our health insurance program. Dental surgery is not one of them. We as a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not able to commit to having this program be established at Stanton for the reasons that I’ve indicated earlier. It’s the Stanton authority that feels that given all the demands of the services that they have to provide…. They have to provide insured services first; they have to be able to provide surgeries and other procedures that Stanton has to deliver that other hospitals in the Territories cannot. So that is their first priority.

But I am willing to make a commitment to the Member that I will revisit this issue, including the one day every eight weeks that...

Yes, I’m willing to make a commitment to come up with a proposal. I have to work out the details with the department. I have not had a chance to do that. I will make the commitment to come up with a proposal to discuss with the community to see how that facility can be used better.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question, as well as commitment, on this issue. As I have indicated already, we have been able to provide additional programming at the Great Elders Facility in terms of facilitating seniors to use that facility more in day programs. I know that the Member and the community are looking for an opportunity for the seniors to be able to stay there and be taken care of.

I want to give the Member a commitment that I am interested in working with the Member on that and working on a wider proposal to go to the Standing Committee on Social Programs to...

Mr. Speaker, once again, YACCS has one hundred per cent control over what services they provide. This government provides funding for that. It’s not within the purview of this Legislature as to what they do in terms of providing food services to the seniors. I can assure you that those seniors are going to have a beautiful facility, and it’s going to be beautiful programming.

Mr. Speaker, as I’ve already indicated, I could give him a table of all the dollars we spend for all of these facilities, which we are glad to do. I know that these organizations were saying that they could always use more money. Now, I state again that I’m willing to work with the NGOs and the city government to resolve this issue. I remain, unless I’m convinced otherwise, that this is a municipal issue. They have the capacity and wherewithal to address that.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the Member is trying to say Signal Pointe facility based in Calgary. I want to tell you, and I’m sure he knows from talking to YACCS, that this new facility has three kitchens. It will be a beautiful facility. It’s a facility that’s very much required in the Territories. It will allow us to take our elders who are suffering from dementia into extended care, some of them for ten to 12 years. It will take care of elders who are being sent away from Yellowknife. It will be a wonderful facility, very needed, and the seniors will be very well taken care of. The Member should...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to say this must be a story of embarrassment of riches. I have to say that per square foot, or by any measure, this government — the Department of Health and Social Services, ECE, Housing, you name it — pours more money into downtown Yellowknife than anywhere else in the territory.

Mr. Speaker, we fund the Salvation Army. We poured millions of dollars into the Salvation Army, Bailey House, SideDoor youth centre, Centre for Northern Families. We fund the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. We fund the YWCA. I say a large portion of our capital funding...

Yes, I do agree that the local community individuals and organizations and leadership have to be at the forefront in dealing with this issue. I would be happy to make that commitment to work in that way toward that.