David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Justice and I want to follow up on some questions I had to the Minister of Health and Social Services last week regarding youth at risk in our communities across the Northwest Territories. I get very disturbed when I hear stories from parents who are having a very difficult time with their sons or daughters and they run into trouble with the RCMP -- in this instance got caught drinking alcohol -- and no charges are laid or no consequence to the young people; their alcohol is poured out.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This issue was clearly identified during the review of the Child and Family Services Act that was conducted by the Social Programs committee just recently. I’d like to know whether or not the government is going to take any action to address the gap in services and the help available to families that are going through these difficult times, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if a child is 16 years old, why can’t addictions treatment be given and mandated to that youth at a parent’s request when the teenager who is oblivious to their problem says no, the treatment can’t be enacted upon? I’d like to ask the Minister why this is the case that a 16 year old whose parents want them to get treatment cannot force that child into treatment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now there’s no solution in sight. Her daughter is falling through the cracks in our support system and it could happen to anyone. Believe me, it is tearing families apart in this city. It is happening to many others.

As a government we must do a better job at filling in these gaps and services before any more youth are lost to the streets of this city. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure held public hearings on Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Local Authorities Elections Act, in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Ulukhaktok, Inuvik, and Aklavik, during the month of April 2011. A public clause-by-clause review was held on May 10, 2011. Seven minor amendments of a technical nature were made to the bill during the clause-by-clause review. Following the clause-by-clause review a motion was carried to report Bill 8 to the Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and...

I suspect that from the age of 12 to 18 it would be the same answer that the Minister would give us. I’d like to ask the Minister specific to families that are experiencing difficulties with the youth between 12 and 18 years of age what programs and services currently does the Department of Health and Social Services have at their disposal to help families going through these traumatic experiences with their children. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services getting back to my statement that I made earlier today. In my statement I highlighted a Yellowknife scenario, but believe me, the situation where parents are losing their teenage sons and daughters to alcohol and drugs can happen in communities across the Northwest Territories; Inuvik, Fort Smith, Hay River, just to name a few.

Many families here in the Northwest Territories are being ripped apart with nowhere to turn when their children aged 15 to 18 take to the streets, are drinking, doing drugs and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are some very scary things happening on the streets of this city. That’s why it’s so important for our schools, Social Services and the police to do the right thing when they are faced with young people whose lives are seriously at risk. It can be the difference between saving a life and sending a youth down a long and dangerous slide, one that they may never get out of.

Only days ago we had a young man, only 16 years old, pass away in a downtown alley. We should take this to heart, Mr. Speaker, as this young man’s family and friends have. It’s any parent’s worst...

Thank you. Over the life of this government we’ve talked many times about engaging the federal government in a meaningful way and having a building up on that relationship that we do have with the federal government. I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier, in looking at relationship building with the federal government, will that be a key part of the transition document that this Cabinet is going to prepare for the next government which will be elected on October the 3rd? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Deputy Premier. In my Member’s statement I spoke about the recent federal election. We here in the Northwest Territories only have four months left in the life of this government and we have some major files currently at play in Ottawa, like the Mackenzie gas project, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Tuk-Inuvik commitment for $150 million for that road, the many other infrastructure needs around our territory. I mentioned earlier, too, Northland Trailer Park here in Yellowknife and the infrastructure to advance our needs there. I’d like...