Glen Abernethy

Right from the beginning when the Premier announced this, he indicated that this would be a collaborative process and that’s the model that we’re following. We have engaged a large working group, which consists of a significant number of NGOs, Aboriginal governments and industry, and we will continue to engage that. That group has identified a steering committee which is chaired by the Government of the Northwest Territories but includes Aboriginal representation, NGO representations, as well, and this is one that I’m really excited about, an individual who has actually lived in poverty and is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of work being done on the Anti-Poverty Strategy. We are happy with the progress that has been done to date and we are looking forward to continue working with committee and the public on the completion of an Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Ultimately what we want is the right Anti-Poverty Strategy as opposed to right now. We think we can get it done by the end of the calendar year but we are open to input from those involved, including the committee and Members, and if it doesn’t look like we’re going to have the right policy at the end of the calendar year, we’re...

Obviously it really, truly depends on who the candidates are and whether they’re successful through the program. We are willing to work with the RCMP and we are willing to try to find the appropriate location for the candidates when they do successfully complete. Whether that’s in a community with a large regional centre or whether it’s a smaller community with a detachment, that needs to be determined based on where the candidate comes from, what their interest is and what capacity they have. We will be working with “G” Division on this.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Aboriginal Community Constable Program is a fantastic program and it’s in its second year of piloting. I have had an opportunity to speak to the commanding officer of “G” Division and we all agree that we really would like to see somebody coming out of a small community going into this program. There are communities that would be able to facilitate an officer upon their return and this is the direction we would like to go. Ultimately it would be up to the RCMP who the final candidates are, and I encourage you and all the Members to get out and talk to the residents...

Yes, Madam Chair. With me today are Sheila Bassi-Kellet on my right, the deputy minister of Human Resources, and on my left, the director of human resource strategy and policy, Michelle Beard.

Yes, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am pleased to present the Department of Human Resources’ main estimates for the fiscal year 2012-13.

For 2012-13 the department is proposing an operations expenditures budget of $42.796 million. This reflects an increase of $375,000 from last year’s main estimates, or slightly less than 1 percent. Of this amount, $9.692 million or 22.6 percent of the total budget is allocated in the form of direct supports to employees, including dental benefits, medical travel assistance, recognition awards and the Employee Family Assistance Program. As a shared service...

We recognize that although this needs to be beyond just government, there is going to be some government responsibility and action required at some point. We have pulled together a committee of the deputies of the social programs departments who will be working on this file on behalf of government. But also, I happen to be the chair of the Social Envelope Committee which consists of the responsible Ministers and we are talking about this, monitoring the progress and providing direction with support of committee and committee’s input as well. We are working across departments as well.

The first part is obviously to get the framework done and the strategy done. We will be working with our partners. This has to be done with partners. For anti-poverty to be successful, we do need to work with organizations and agencies outside of government. Once we have the framework, then we will be able to have the discussions on next steps, which would include action plans. Those action plans will involve actions from individuals outside of government, so we will have to work with them to come up with that.

These are two separate programs. They are facilitated through the RCMP. The first program, the Aboriginal Community Constable Program, is in its second year pilot. We don’t know if that program is going to continue to exist after this second delivery. We would like it to and we continue to work with the RCMP and encourage them to continue this program because we see it as valuable.

The second program, the Aboriginal Pre-Cadet Program, that’s an ongoing program and the intake is actually completed for this fiscal year, but it’s an ongoing program so there will be intake in future years. We...

Mr. Speaker, we will have a program in place in the fall to be piloted. I can’t create something with a snap of my fingers. It takes time. We have to consult with the different Aboriginal groups. We have to make sure we have proper input. We have to make sure that the program is going to work. We can put something in place overnight, but I can pretty much guarantee that it’s going to be a failure.

Give us a bit of time to get this done right. The fall is not that far away. It’s May. Summer is here. We will have something ready in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.