Glen Abernethy

The Member is going to have an opportunity, as will all Members, to sit down with the department staff and go through the action plan that we are proposing.

Many of the actions have already begun. When I saw the results of our own internal audit, one of my directions to the department was to begin anticipatory hiring and put in a more aggressive recruitment campaign to get out and get as many people into the pipe as possible, start getting these people in and trained up, so that they can provide these services, to the point where we are prepared to double-fill some positions until such a time...

I'm not arguing with the Member. I've acknowledged that we need to do better. We need to do more. I do encourage the Member to read the Auditor General's previous report. It was a far broader audit and actually included significant recommendations to actually improve accountability and to improve the system. They didn't audit those portions of the system this time, and I can say that we have done those foundational pieces. That's where a lot of our attention was put. We did those while at the same time expecting our employees at the front line to evolve but also continue to providing services...

It is the Member's meeting. I am going with the Member. I anticipate he will be helping set up those meetings. We are bringing the staff who have been working and negotiating with Nelson so that they can explain our findings, help the communities, both of them, understand what services Nelson provides and what services Nelson does not provide. Once again, I think there is some belief that Nelson can do everything, and they are limited. There are certainly services they don't provide there. Then, talk about next steps, how we can work together with the community to make sure that those services...

We are running about a 25 percent vacancy in this area, so we lose about a quarter of our employees every year, which is deeply troubling, obviously. I am a firm believer that we want to recruit and train Northerners to do the important work that is needed in the Northwest Territories. I am a very big supporter of Northerners developing the skills to be social workers, which, if you don't have a previous history or previous background, would require a degree in social work.

The social work program that exists now, unless you choose to go south for the second portion, doesn't give you the degree...

There are services that aren't provided in Fort Nelson right now. I am actually not 100 percent sure about pregnancy, but my suggestion would be that having individuals come to the boarding home here in Yellowknife or to services here in Yellowknife or Hay River might be more appropriate. If there were any complications, we can deal with them within this existing system.

If somebody is receiving services in Nelson and there is a complication, they could end up going into the BC system where we wouldn't necessarily have access to health records or history of the individual, which could provide...

I appreciate that Members think that nothing has happened, but a significant amount has happened. In fact, we did contract with the Child Welfare League of Canada to help us do the exact work that the Member is asking us to do again. At that time, we were optimistic that they were going to provide us with a formula that would actually allow us to adequately resource the system because, clearly, we feel that it is not.

We did not get a report from the Child Welfare League of Canada that said, "This is how many positions you need." What we got was, "Here are some things you need to consider when...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today, I will be tabling the GNWT Disability Action Plan, so I am very pleased to have the following people joining us today from the NWT Disabilities Council: Terry Hawkins, the chair; Cornelius Van Dyke, the vice chair; Kim Tregidgo, the board member from Hay River; Christopher Aitkens, board member from Hay River; Denise McKee, executive director, and thank you all for being here and being so supportive of the work that we are doing to support persons with disabilities. Thank you.

Yes, we have put in some quality assurance mechanisms within the territorial authority, Hay River as well as Tlicho. Where individuals have concern with the care they are provided or anything, any of their engagement with the authority, they should reach out to our quality-assurance staff. They will be best to investigate the situation, find out what happened, and, where appropriate, make recommendations so that we can fix those challenges in future so future people don't experience them, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I appreciate the Member's comment, but, because other people breach those confidentiality and talk about things, it doesn't mean we in this Assembly should. I appreciate that the Member is ultimately talking about cultural safety, and I appreciate that conversation, but it's inappropriate to use people's names in this House.

We have done a significant amount of work to develop cultural safety training here, in the Department of Health and Social Services. We have an Indigenous Health and Community Wellness division who have actually worked with different Indigenous governments and individuals...

This is one of the issues that came up in the review of Child and Family Services that the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh and I participated in. We have made some changes within the system so that, if a family member wants to foster the child and become their caregiver, we can actually facilitate that and help them and provide them with a foster fee. If they were to adopt the child, that would become a familiar relationship, and it wouldn't necessarily get some coverage.

Once again, the system we are putting in place is about building stronger families and supporting families through these...