Sandy Lee

I will consult with colleagues on the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing Government, and we’ll see if we can incorporate that into the discussion paper. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are lots of issues that we need to work on with respect to the needs of seniors, one of the most pressing being expanding services for seniors in senior centres. The Member for Tu Nedhe has been asking from day one about enhancing services in the Great Elders Centre. The Member for Mackenzie Delta is looking to replace or to refurbish the elder centre in Aklavik. I know that the Member for Sahtu…. There’s an elders’ facility in Délînê that could always use more programming.

So I’m saying that if we have extra money, I think the focus should be on enhancing services. I...

Mr. Speaker, as the Member pointed out, this is not a new issue. It is a natural phenomenon, as the Member has stated. Municipal governments around the world take care of issues that the Member is raising. So I do believe that it is within the power and responsibility of the municipal government.

Mr. Speaker, I’m sure this government is willing to work with any partners who may want to address any number of issues, but I think by any standards this is probably a municipal issue. I know they’re having discussions going on about some of the issues that the Member is bringing up, and I would be happy to discuss it with the municipal government and any other parties to see what options are available.

As the Member is aware, the dementia building is being built. The consolidated clinic has gone to tender, and I believe the tender has been awarded. The administrative offices, with about 35 staff, are going to be moved out of Stanton into what’s now known as the old Extra Foods building as of December. There is other work being done to maximize the use of the building and to concentrate the renovation of the building on what’s most necessary and what has to be at that hospital, which is supposed to be an acute care facility.

We are looking at lots of other measures, and we are doing that in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to update the Members on this capital project.

In May, when the new public administrator of Stanton was appointed, one of the tasks he was given by me was to look at the master development plan and report back to me on it. What I found out when he came to me is that they are working on a $200 million plan for Stanton. Obviously, that was not a workable plan. I sent him back to work, and he and the deputy minister and the planners went back to work.

They came back in September with something that’s more manageable at $50 million. It will...

In discussions with the insurance office in Inuvik and the officials I am advised that it has been in effect for a long time. Since the Member talked to me about it last week, I have asked them to talk to the pharmacists to make sure that it’s working well for them. But we have not heard any of the problems in that regard.

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate and take the Member’s point that we can always do better to improve our services and efficiencies. One of the things that’s been conducted by the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing Government is to look at how to combine the services of Housing, Health and Social Services, and ECE in the way it’s structured so that at the regional level our communities are able to work together to better serve their communities and the citizens that we serve. Obviously, there’s always room for better coordination, and we will continue to make that effort.

Mr. Speaker, whether there is a seniors’ secretariat or not, I think what the seniors are interested in knowing is that the government is responsive to some of the concerns that the seniors are bringing forward. The government has worked on and responded to the Seniors Action Plan along with the NWT Seniors’ Society.

Just last year we increased the seniors’ benefits, and it was indexed by communities, recognizing the differentials in the cost of living, especially in some of our smaller and remote communities. Income Security has increased the ceiling for the senior home fuel subsidy, where an...

Mr. Speaker, I would think that any reasonable mind would agree with that. It is debatable whether this is a Health and Social Services issue and a territorial issue. I understand the concern. I understand this has been an issue for the downtown merchants in the city of Yellowknife as well as something that the municipal government has been working on with community groups. So I will once again commit to the Member — and I do not need him to make a commitment on behalf of the mayor — that I will call the mayor, and I will talk to him about what plans there are and see what we can do.