Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm trying to think back to when I first started. It was one of the first documents I actually looked at, and I had concerns with it, as well, Madam Chair. I brought it to my staff and I asked them what this was about. I recognize in those conversations that it's about basic standards of care. There are things about children having rights to, I can't remember, basic rights that children should have. I felt at that point that they were pretty basic and standard across, but I also respect that Indigenous governments might have taken offense to it and said, "How dare you...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I have witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to turn that to the deputy minister, Martin Goldney.

Again, we can't change the past, but we need to learn from the past. As stated to Members when we spoke in other times, I made a commitment. I did. I talked to all of our Ministers and said, "Please, don't leave unless it's extenuating circumstances." People do have extenuating circumstances, medical travel, loss of family members, horrible stories have happened over COVID-19, and I wouldn't want to penalize anyone for those things. That's not the goal of protecting our residents, is to penalize people; it's to keep people safe.

I had spoken to our Ministers, and I had spoken to all of our...

Thank you, Madam Chair. If you can pass that on to Deputy Minister Martin Goldney.

I will start by saying that no Minister, no elected Minister in this House, left during Christmas because I believe that, as elected officials, all of us, all of us in this House as elected officials, are responsible for being role models to the residents of the Northwest Territories. We cannot change the past, but I do know that the public was hurt. I also know that over 1,500 people from the Northwest Territories left the NWT for leisure travel during that time. I also know that it was not an order; it was a recommendation, so nobody broke the law, even the residents who left. No one broke...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I need to clarify that it's kind of at a draft. The Akaitcho needs to go to their membership. There is a process that happens within that, and out of respect, Madam Chair, I can't give a timeline. They need to go back to their membership. They need to talk about what the offer is on the table, and then they need to come back. I want it done. I want it signed. I do believe that self-government is the right answer. I've said it many, many times that, if we support self-governments, it helps us. The more money that they have, the more jobs they can get for their own...

I will give direction to the Ministers during the Cabinet meeting. I can make a commitment to do that, that they should talk to their senior officials in every department and do try to talk about client services and how we can best work with people. I do think that all Ministers recognize that. I know that they're trying to do that. We're open to ideas, like I said. The combining of one release of information form that was brought from this Assembly from Regular Members, give credit where credit is due, was a phenomenal thing, in my opinion.

We have work to do. The integrated case management...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a concern. I know, from my own history of being a social worker, that there are issues to the government. All government programs are meant to provide services to the people based on the needs of people. Because the government is so big sometimes, they do actually end up working in silos. Over the years, we have tried many things to address this issue. We have multiple working groups. We have committees of Cabinet where members from different departments sit together. We are looking at an integrated case management service with the Department of Justice. Within...

There is no arguing with the Member. She is absolutely right. It would be really nice if people could stop and hit one service centre and be able to get their answers addressed and the services they need and to actually not have to walk to the next government office two blocks or five blocks away, whatever it may be, that they could pick up the phone. That is the goal of the government, eventually.

Giving credit in the last Assembly when they started the integrated case management program, that was the goal, that it would become a pilot project, and from that work, which we're just concluding...