Great Slave

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I would, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, I will move that Bill 41, Tobacco and Vapor Products Control Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

When I met with the Yellowknife MLAs, and then we followed up and met with stakeholders, it was clear that there are a lot of stakeholders who want to be involved. A lot of stakeholders have something they can add to the idea of supporting our seniors who are either cognitively or physically impaired to engage and have socialization, getting to the community. There are a number of stakeholders who want to be involved. There are lots of opportunities to figure out how to get that engagement to occur. What we're looking at right now is how to work with those partners. The GNWT is clearly going...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I think it will be a wide variety of stakeholders. Some of the events that already occur that these individuals can't get to will continue, so they will be working to find ways to get them to those events. We haven't absolutely 100 percent articulated who will be the individuals or the group who get those people to those events, and that's something that we're working on the detail with our stakeholders right now.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I appreciate the role of a child advocate. I did have opportunities to meet with child advocates in other jurisdictions and learn about the importance of them. I am not saying the Northwest Territories will never have a child advocate, nor should we never have a child advocate. The bottom line is, for the remainder of this term, we are already looking at our last O and M budget before us. It would take legislative drafting. Given the legislative agenda that is in front of us, it probably is not something we are going to be able to accomplish.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

The Child and Family Services Act, after it was amended, actually allows for a child and each parent of the child to choose and be accompanied by an adult who may assist them in the expression of his or her views when engaging the courts and when engaging the system. It doesn't necessarily allow or support the child advocate as the Member is describing, but it does allow for advocacy.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer began serving clients in 2011. I understand, once again, that that is not a child advocate, but it does provide those services once a child has access to the court system...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I, like Members in this House, have heard time and time again that the NWT health and social services system is not safe for Indigenous residents, nor does it account for Indigenous culture or healing needs. That is why, for the past 16 months, staff at the department have worked with Indigenous Northerners to hear their experiences, concerns, and aspirations for the NWT health and social services system. This included meeting with regional wellness councils, including the Beaufort-Delta, where council members had the opportunity to voice their community concerns about the health and wellbeing...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Significant new funding has been available to homecare beginning in 2017-2018. $2.5 million annually was included as an investment within the Government of the Northwest Territories. We also have $7.4 million for homecare over a 10-year period that we got from the federal government. This new funding is helping health and social services system enhance home and community care programs and services for clients across the Northwest Territories. Some of the ways that we have been able to do that is the establishment of 14 new homecare positions, as well as training for them, equipment, supplies...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me today are Christina Brownlee, who is legislative counsel, and Gary Toft, the director of policy, legislation, and communications with Health and Social Services.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 32, the Naturopathic Profession Statutes Amendment Act. The Legislative Assembly passed the Health and Social Services Profession Act to enable the Government of the Northwest Territories to regulate numerous different professions under one legislative framework and later amended the legislation to strengthen competency requirements for professionals.

Work has been under way to draft professional regulations to bring the Health and Social Services Profession Act into force. This includes regulations for three groups of professionals; the...