Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been hearing about silos for a number of years, and it's certainly a pet peeve of mine; I've raised it as a Regular Member on multiple occasions.

One of the things that's being done to help us break down some of the silos is we actually have some interdepartmental deputy minister committees that are actually tasked with making sure that they're working together on shared files, that they're not duplicating efforts, that they're working for a common goal. They have opportunities to discuss the different pillars that were identified in the framework, as...

There are a number of Ministers who have responsibility for the individual action items that are included within our anti-poverty documents, the GNWT's Anti-Poverty Action Plan. My role is to continue to work with stakeholders to get this information out, and to remind Ministers of their obligations under this strategic framework, which includes five areas in supporting children and families; promoting healthy living; ensuring safe and affordable housing; making our communities sustainable; and providing an integrated continuum of services. Mr. Speaker, we work together to make that a reality.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In times of crisis, it can be difficult sometimes to determine who the most appropriate person to communicate with, whether it is the family, or maybe the family may not be the appropriate person depending on the incident that has occurred.

As a general rule, we do try to communicate with leadership in the community to help us coordinate our activities in the community, but I say that with a caution that you have to be flexible. You have to recognize that there are times when family might be the most appropriate individuals to be in touch with for a multitude of reasons...

There have been a number of tragedies in the Member's riding, and the Department of Health and Social Services has responded to each one of them, but in each case the response was different based on what the community told us they were looking for as far as supports. We recognize that smaller communities do not necessarily have access to all the supports that exist in some of the larger communities, and where appropriate and where desired by the communities, we have sent professionals from other communities in when those crises occur.

So we tailor based on need, we tailor based on expectations...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Followup Letter to Oral Question 52518(2): Sahtu Regional Health Council." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lake, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Health and Social Services Professions Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Health and Social Services Professions Act. This bill imposes a requirement on registered members to comply with continuing competency recording requirements and authorizes inspection of those records; clarifies the nature of the registries maintained respectively by the registrar and the complaints officer, including the scope of public access to those registers and the protection of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Health and Social Services Professions Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to be clear that I am not saying "no," but it is going to sound an awful lot like "no." The survey was done in 2007. There is a lot of information coming from a lot of different stakeholders about the problems of domestic violence and violence against women. We are in a fiscal environment where we have got to make sure that we are getting as much maximum benefit for every dollar we spend. I guess my question to the Member and the Members opposite is: would I be better positioned to spend money on a survey, or would I be better positioned to spend money on the family violence shelters...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have had some discussions between myself and the deputy about The Globe and Mail article and the very disturbing findings in there. I was really happy to hear the work that Justice is doing with the RCMP to attempt to change some of those results for the better.

In the Department of Health and Social Services, we are focusing on a couple of different areas. One of them is prevention. We are utilizing programs like what will it take to get out there and work with residents across the territories to change the perspective, change the attitudes around...

There are five pillars that were utilized to help us address poverty in the Northwest Territories, and this is being used by our stakeholders as well, and that's the Children and Family Support, Healthy Living and Reaching our Potential, Safe Affordable Housing, Sustainable Communities and Integrated Continuum of Services. In this budget that is before us today, we are investing $750,000, new dollars, to provide services for homeless people in Yellowknife. There has been a commitment to fully fund junior kindergarten. There's $3 million to enhance small community employment support, which is...