Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is absolutely correct. There is a huge need for having support so that our seniors can age in place within their communities. The Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics has shown that, although our population is slowly increasing, our seniors’ aging is increasing substantially. It is a huge priority for this whole government. We are working in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services to provide the best care possible for our elders. Some of the things that we are doing with the Housing Corporation, we have care and mobility. We have...

The housing survey that was conducted by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is actually to be tabled tomorrow. We’re really pleased to provide that. There were over 6,000 responses, and so, in all honesty, I do not know if that one particular, it wasn’t highlighted as a major concern, but I would like to state that when we were doing the tour, I did hear within the community of Kakisa that they had concerns about after-hours support. The difficulty within that community is, currently, we only have four home ownership programs and zero public housing in that community. Because we do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In every community that we have a local housing organization, we also have a 24-hour emergency response system in place. When those systems are called on, the emergency is moved to a priority, taking precedent over any other scheduled regular maintenance that we’re doing. If the situation is deemed not to be a priority, then it falls within the realm of regular maintenance, but we do provide a reply within a week’s business time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not my responsibility alone as a Minister, as a human being, to address the issue of family violence and the root causes. We are working across departments. We are working with our colleagues, Regular MLAs. We are working with Aboriginal governments. We are working with non-profit organizations. This is a societal issue, not one person's issue. I will commit to working in partnership with as many people, as many organizations I can, to address the issue of family violence.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to state that family violence is an issue within the Northwest Territories. It is something that we have to donate time and energy to. Again, I would like to say that I believe that we need to focus on prevention and healing at this point. I also want to state, since it was in the question, that not only is the issue of family violence an issue within the Northwest Territories, we have to take care of all the residents, and that means we have to provide support and money to our mineral industry, to our infrastructure, to housing, to transportation, to...

I am definitely committed to addressing the root causes of family violence, and the root causes of family violence is not an attitudinal survey. It is a lot of other things. It can be a host of ideas, and that is why I will commit to supporting prevention and healing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The conversation of an attitudinal survey is actually interesting, and I would like to kind of address that. I would like to start with stating that I am quite offended by the Member's statement, when she stated that it is clear that Members do not agree that family violence is insulting. Because Members do not have a desire to continue to punish individuals who have served their time after committing domestic violence but rather focus on healing, because we want to preserve rights in place, does not mean that Members do not understand or care about family violence in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the right to vote is an important piece of what it means to be Canadian. Voting is not just a right guaranteed to you in our democratic system, it is also a responsibility that comes with receiving the benefits of that system. All the services, all the freedoms, all the good things that you enjoy every day, all come with a price: the responsibility of voting to ensure the strength of our system.

Mr. Chair, it wasn't long ago that the right to vote wasn't extended to all Canadians. Up until 1951, women were prohibited for running for their bands' councils under...

The departments right across of the Government of the Northwest Territories make a serious effort to work together. We have a Deputy Ministers Committee that our deputy ministers sit on. The deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, as well as the deputy minister of the Youth, and Education, Culture and Employment. As Ministers, we also have a social committee that we all sit on that both Ministers take part in, and we have actually met with the Minister of Youth to update him on our programs. As any programs change, we will let the Youth Minister know.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is more than willing to support any community that is looking at accessing any of our programs, so if the MLA would want, we would be willing to send a regional representative in to help them actually fill in the application. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.