I know there is also the issue of the mental health status of individuals who end up being part of the statistics in terms of suicide and, as I said, 43 percent in the Beaufort-Delta.

I’d like to ask the Minister, what is he doing to address some of the waiting times for counselling needs as well as this assist training? How do people in the Beaufort-Delta or any of the small communities know how to get a hold of this mental health toll-free line as well as being able to access some of these counselling services at a sooner time rather than having to wait? I think it’s a two-month waiting list...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the week, on Monday, I made a statement on the NWT Coroner Service Annual Report, and in the report it talked a little bit about some of the pressing statistics that came up and, actually, the number of suicides that we had in the Northwest Territories last year. Seventy percent of them were related to alcohol and drug use. Even a bigger statistic over the last five years, 43 percent of the suicides happened in the Beaufort-Delta region, which is a very high number.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, what is his department doing to...

In terms of providing services to our victim service coordinators, what type of training is available for them to deal with some of these very highly stressful situations that they find themselves? Not only training for them, but what about counselling services for victim service coordinators that, on a daily basis in some cases, see the harshness of our residents of the Northwest Territories who are going through some type of family violence, or after a specific tragedy, what kind of counselling services and training is provided to these victim service coordinators? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I talked about what kind of support we have for our victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories. As I said earlier, I stated that 1,942 cases go to victim service coordinators throughout the NWT, and those are the only ones that need services. There might even be more victims out there that don’t speak up, don’t stand up.

I would like to ask the Minister of Justice, how many victim service coordinators do we currently have in the Northwest Territories address all these cases? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 33, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, No. 2, be read for the third time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the week I’ve made comments and Member’s statements and asked questions regarding such things as the coroner’s report and the Forfeiture Act. Today I’d like to take a moment and talk about the victim services that we currently provide in the Northwest Territories and take another stance on how we provide services and support to people that are victims of crime.

Specifically, for victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories, the mandate of victim services is to provide information, assistance, referrals and support to victims of crimes or tragedy in...

Mr. Chairman, as I stated, that is a concern for me that if we bypass the process of a competition to accommodate a certain individual that are long-term employees within the government that we might have given awards to, long-term service awards to, are not getting the due respect that they should deserve moving forward. That is a concern, and I think there should be something in place like an appeals process for these individuals who have committed years of service to the GNWT.

One last area of concern is just the double filling of positions, as you heard earlier, in terms of somebody...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that’s where we get a little bit of a concern, is that if it’s the opinion that we want to keep somebody continued within the public service sector, that if we do find a position that they’re qualified for, say, in the Department of Justice, and they’re leaving, maybe, the Department of Human Resources, that in the other department there’s the opportunity for other employees, especially now that we’re trying to do this regional engagement strategy, that we’re not taking somebody in that positon that might have been there for 20 years and now we’re filling a vacant...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For that, I’ll go to our Chief Electoral Officer Mr. David Brock.

Yes, I do.