Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government must recognize the caregiver burden for families for adults who are experiencing disabilities is a systemic issue. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services expand the supported living model to private homes, opening access to supports, respite, and paid caregiver resources that are currently limited to designated providers only? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate, you know, the advocacy that -- not just this MLA but there are other MLAs that have come, and it makes the work that we're doing move. And I think that's the thing, is under the health sustainability unit once we have those recommendations, those will be able to -- that working -- their unit is working in partnership with the health authority, the department, so that we have proper -- we'll know what it's going to cost us and those recommendations to be able to bring forward to, you know, provide that level of -- like, the care to the residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We got to get rid of these lakes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mean, the people who deserve the credit are the people who are advocating to us, right. They're the ones who are going through this, and they're the ones who are identifying the gaps.
Mr. Speaker, she's got 33 recommendations to look at. Now we're waiting for more recommendations. It just seems like we're getting into endless amounts of waiting and waiting and waiting. When will we see some real timelines and real results that people can look at so they can have some certainty that this problem is going to be resolved? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before -- in case, you know, the public doesn't understand how we have to approve money to spend on programs and services, so we have the recommendations, we will have to bring those, you know, through a process, through our business planning process, to be able to allocate funds to the recommendations. And, however, we do also know that within our health system, we've been having deficits for year after year after year, so we have to look. And what we're doing right now is looking at where our money is being spent and how our money is being spent, especially in this area, and what can we do to make improvements. And so as that unit doesn't sit under me, I am -- you know, I am -- I am obligated to be waiting for those recommendations so then I can move forward with the business planning process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the final report was issued four years ago, so this is not like this came out yesterday and I am asking the Minister to hurry up. Will the Minister either implement these recommendations within the next -- within the next business plan or admit to the public that they're just not going to get done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I became the Minister, there was no -- what was able to be implemented which was -- could be funded from within. There was no new money that came with the recommendations, the recommendations, the report that came forward. So that's -- a lot of times, you know, within many of our departments, they come back with all the things that we need to fix, but it comes with huge amounts of money. We only have through our business processes small amounts of money, and as you see in this budget, we were able to allocate new things or improve things to certain areas that are high pressure, and that's the -- that's what will happen when we get these -- the health sustainability unit recommendations as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
