Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 55, Mental Health Act, be read for the second time.

This bill replaces the Mental Health Act. It modernizes mental health legislation and includes an approach to promote the care and treatment of patients in communities where appropriate. It provides for the establishment of a review board to hear, in a timely manner, applications by patients, persons acting on behalf of patients, medical practitioners and other persons. A consequential amendment is made to the Property Assessment and Taxation Act.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one of the aspects of consensus government that I really like. The department went out and did a bunch of work and did consultations around the Northwest Territories on how to improve the health and social services system with a focus on the client, and we drafted a bill based on all that consultation. Then the Members got a hold of the bill and they went back out and they did some consultation and they offered amendments and motions that actually, I believe, truly have made this a stronger and better bill. For instance, the Members have talked about the need to...

I do, Mr. Chair.

The program within Education, Culture and Employment continues to exist. There were some similarities in the program and in working with the Inuvialuit in Tuk, there was a recognition that by all of us pooling together and working together with the Inuvialuit, we can provide the different components of the program in Tuk. So, it’s a tailored approach to meet specific community needs, but it doesn’t mean that the education program doesn’t exist and isn’t being provided elsewhere. It also doesn’t mean that the healthy family programs being supported by Health and Social Services are changing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Members’ comments. The Members are correct; our current Mental Health Act came into force in 1985 and there has been no significant amendment since. This bill will completely replace the old Mental Health Act.

Mr. Speaker, there are gaps in our current mental health system and residents are falling through the cracks. It’s clear that change is urgently needed and the time is now. This legislation will fill those gaps and modernize the current mental health framework. The bill streamlines the current assessment and admissions process and also removes some...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Ms. Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services; on my left is Mr. Thomas Druyan, legislative counsel responsible for drafting this piece of legislation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Working Together: An Action Plan to Reduce and Eliminate Poverty in the Northwest Territories.”

On behalf of the NWT Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults and the NWT Seniors’ Society, I wish to table the following document, entitled “Networking to Prevent Older Adult Abuse: A Comparative Research Study.”

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time today I will table “Working Together: An Action Plan to Reduce and Eliminate Poverty in the Northwest Territories.” This collaborative action plan demonstrates our government’s commitment to work in partnership with other stakeholders to tackle poverty in the Northwest Territories. It builds on the great work that produced “Building on the Strengths of Northerners,” the Anti-Poverty Strategic Framework, in 2013. Like the strategic framework, this action plan was developed by all levels of government working together with representatives from the private...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 55, Mental Health Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the members of the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty who have joined us today. They’re the individuals who have worked together, worked hard to consolidate all the information from residents across the Northwest Territories in the development of working together on an action plan to reduce and eliminate poverty in the Northwest Territories. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to both recognize and thank Bronwyn Watters and Julie Green as well as Mark Heyck.

June is also Senior Citizens Month and June 15th is World Elder Abuse Day...