Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Chair. I move that paragraph 111(1)(a) of Bill 34 be amended by striking out "and" at the end of the English version of subparagraph (vi), and adding the following after paragraph (vi):

(vi.1) prescribing areas as settlement areas for the purposes of paragraph (e) of the definition "settlement area."

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of motions to make on behalf of the Minister responsible. Shall I proceed with Motion 1? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that clause 53 of Bill 34 be amended by striking out "production project" and substituting "undertaking authorized under the mineral lease." Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

I have been following this file closely. As I indicated, this survey will be completed by the end of this month. I have asked the department to have a summary ready for me to look at. That will probably be in September, at which point we can provide direction on how to move forward. I hope to do that in the life of this Assembly, but at the end of the day, the rollout will be in the next Assembly. Hopefully, there will be a program that meets their needs, meets the needs of this Assembly, meets the needs of the residents, early, very early, in the life of the next government. Thank you, Mr...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The intent of this motion is to clarify that a benefit agreement does not have to be a separate agreement. It is also intended to make clear that, as long as an agreement contains provisions providing benefits, it may meet the requirement under Bill 34. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 87)

We have encouraged as many people as possible to fill out the survey. We are getting decent numbers at this point, but we need to see what we get by the end of the month. At this time, I would certainly like to take the opportunity to encourage everybody who hasn't to please get out and fill out that survey to help us design programs that will meet the needs of the residents of Yellowknife.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 86)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "The Northwest Territories Child and Family Services Quality Improvement Plan, 2019-2021." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 86)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will be tabling the Child and Family Services Quality Improvement Plan. The Quality Improvement Plan sets out actions that we have been taking to address issues identified as part of our internal reviews, the 2018 Auditor General's Report, and from feedback from staff, standing committee, Indigenous governments, and other stakeholders throughout the system. Our number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of children and youth in our care, and this plan provides clear direction, priority areas, and actions for improving our child and family services system in...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 81)

There is no territorial law or regulation prohibiting the practice of cremation in the Northwest Territories. The department and I did commit to developing regulations under the Public Health Act in 2019, and these will provide essentially greater support and certainty to providers who may wish to offer cremation services in the territories. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, the department is responsible for regulation of cremation that is limited to public health matters, such as handling the body and disposing of human waste materials. Other aspects of cremation actually fall under the mandates...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member indicated, we did release a discussion document on May 1st with an opportunity for feedback until the end of May. We did receive two submissions, and, based on that information, we have issued some drafting instructions for the regulations. In broad terms, and, I mean, I could spend a significant amount of time going into the detail, but I am not going to, but, in broad terms at this point, based on the feedback that we received, we feel that the regulations are going to be quite consistent with that key elements document that was released previously. I...