Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, we are accepting participants into a new pilot healing program in Yellowknife for men who use violence in their lives against their intimate partners. This voluntary program is key to helping communities be sustainable, vibrant and safe. It is based on this Assembly’s main goal of believing in people and building on the strengths of Northerners.

Through a naming ceremony with elders, the 24-week program was named Wek’eahkaa (“Wek ea caw”) A New Day, to reflect our healing philosophy. Each day brings with it a fresh chance to take control of our actions.

Wek’eahkaa is for men who...

An analysis of this magnitude would actually cost some money so we would have to actually look for some money as well, which means we may have to come back to the House seeking some dollars to do that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As with all assets that belong to a department, once the Department of Health and Social Services vacates it, it will become the responsibility of Public Works and Services, who will do a technical assessment on the building to figure out if there is any future for that building and whether it can actually be used for other purposes, then it would enter the normal process for disposal which may include, or could include, re-profiling. We would have to do a technical assessment on the building, figure out what it is, factor in deferred maintenance, costs of operating...

At the current time, there is actually a dedicated police officer in Fort McPherson to provide services to Tsiigehtchic. I’m happy to sit down and talk about options and possibilities about how we can provide a greater range of services in Tsiigehtchic. A stand-alone detachment is going to be a minimum of $5.5 million investment to develop a detachment. I think we need to work on other options first. I’m certainly willing to meet with the leadership to talk about options that would work for them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that specific information in front of me. I do know that in the summertime they have regular planned patrols of the community where they drive in from Fort McPherson. In the wintertime, if there is an emergency, they will charter a plane to come in. I will commit to getting the Member some specifics on actual response time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled 2011-2012 Report of the Legal Services Board of the Northwest Territories, the NWT Law Foundation’s 30th Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2012, and the NWT Coroners Service 2011 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated, we will look at it and I’m fond of looking outside of the box and trying to find solutions where possible, but we have to be realistic about some of the challenges that we’re facing, so absolutely, we’ll look at this. I’ll talk with my colleague and we’ll think outside the box to see if there are any possibilities, but I won’t guarantee any at this point in time.

The difference in prices between government and non-government users of the fuel in the small communities is basically the GST. The Government of the Northwest Territories does not pay GST but everybody else is going to be required to pay GST. We’ll have that discussion, but at this point I’m not sure that we’re going to be able to reduce or eliminate GST for our non-government customers.

Absolutely I’ll have those discussions with the Minister of ITI, but I don’t want to set any false expectations. Not paying GST is not likely going to be a possibility.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated previously, the way the gas prices are determined in communities where Public Works and Services is responsible for the fuel, is we buy the fuel, we ship the fuel, then we add a little bit of profit on top of that for the people that are distributing it in the communities, and then there are, obviously, taxes.

I did take the Member’s question and I did share the comments in my… I did have a conversation with ITI. I haven’t got an answer on that. What I will do is commit to having another discussion with the Minister of ITI to see what there is. Given the...