Glen Abernethy

Of course not, but I’m seeing something come from committee with the full support of committee on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is right; I’m going to say exactly the same thing again. We are doing medical travel modernization and we are including this as one of the areas that we are hoping to address, or intend to address for that program. Right now our policy is such that it allows us to do reimbursements where a second opinion is justified. But it could be that people may choose to go out for second opinions if they know their trip is going to be paid for when they don’t actually need a second opinion. So we need to be cautious. We can’t just say we’ll pay for everybody that wants to go anywhere for a...

As I indicated, depending on the outcomes of a second medical opinion, if an individual did have to travel to get that second medical opinion, we would be willing to explore covering some of the costs. I do hear the Member and I have heard other individuals express concern in this particular area. I can confirm that this topic is part of the medical travel modernization. This is a topic we are looking at as we modernize medical travel here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When you add all the programs together, whether it’s housing or education or health and social services, there is significant money going into this particular area. I will commit to getting some more quantified, sort of, results or numbers for the Member and provide that to him as soon as I can.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 36, Health and Social Services Professions Act, be read for the third time.

A number of requests do come to me from organizations like the NWT Seniors’ Society, which I absolutely share with the individual Ministers responsible. But we also have the Ministers’ Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet where there’s an opportunity for us to discuss issues across multiple departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me on my left is Mark Aitken, the assistant deputy minister and Attorney General of the Northwest Territories. On my far right is Emily Ingarfield, the manager of policy and planning. Beside me on my right is Ken Chutskoff, who is legislative counsel working on this particular piece of legislation.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to be here for the Department of Justice to introduce Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act.

Bill 42 addresses a number of concerns that have been brought to the attention of the Department of Justice through a series of engagements with stakeholders.

It includes amendments which will ensure that orders of the rental officer are enforceable by permitting them to be filed in the Supreme Court instead of the Territorial Court, allow a victim of family violence to make an application to terminate a tenancy agreement, and establish regulation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that the Northwest Territories has a significant incidence of domestic and/or family violence. Domestic violence in the Northwest Territories is a complex issue with no single solution. One of the main goals of the 17th Legislative Assembly is to support development of sustainable, vibrant and safe communities. In order to achieve this goal, we need to reduce the levels of family violence across our territory.

The Department of Health and Social Services focuses on prevention and intervention of family violence including providing recovery as well as support...

I appreciate the words the Member is putting in my mouth. The bottom line is obviously it will carry more weight if it comes from one of the standing committees, in this case the Standing Committee on Social Programs. I do hear the Member. I will look at it, but I would appreciate hearing something from the Standing Committee on Social Programs as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.