Jane Groenewegen

Do Members agree that concludes consideration of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment capital?

Agreed. Thank you. On page 16, labour development and standards, infrastructure investments, $1.672 million.

I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.

Minister Lafferty, for the record, could you please introduce your witnesses.

I recited other jurisdictions in Canada today in my Member’s statement that actually expressly recognize grandparents and clearly give them opportunities to pursue their rights.

Will the Department of Health and Social Services look at that new and emerging legislation in other jurisdictions and consider amendments to the Children’s Law Act to formally recognize grandparents in territorial family law?

I think we would all agree that grandparents play a very important role in the lives of their grandchildren. In a follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

In situations that I’m aware of – and I raise this concern on behalf of some grandmothers in Hay River – when they are denied access or visitation or are considered a priority for custody of their grandchildren, they not only deprive the grandparents but they deprive the grandchildren of a very important influence in their lives.

I’d like to ask the Minister, what is the status of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a little bit of trivia, when I was sworn into this Legislature the first time, there’s a video footage of my family out in the Member’s lounge and my husband was holding my daughter in his arms and Jillian was six years old. Now almost all of my grandchildren are now older than six years old, but today I want to talk about the rights of grandparents.

I’ve often got on the plane to fly here to Yellowknife to do my work and thought that I’m blessed because I could not be doing that work if I did not know that my five grandchildren were in good hands, in good care and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, I recognize that we’re nearing the end of our terms here and this is not something that’s going to happen in this Assembly and the 17th Assembly, but if the Minister could commit to working with the Minister of Justice even in the remaining days here to at least begin the research and interjurisdictional research into what is happening in other jurisdictions in Canada, perhaps we could then get a fresh start in the 18th Assembly in looking at implementing that so that our legislation is keeping up with other places in Canada with respect to grandparents.

I’m also wondering: in the case where the parents of those grandchildren are obstructing the rights of the grandparents to visit or to be granted custody of those grandchildren in a situation where they’re taken into care, what do we have in legislation that precludes that from happening, where a mother or a father of children would obstruct grandparents from being able to have access to and visitation rights and custodial rights when necessary? What do we have to address that?

But while the jurisdictions vary in the details of their approaches, several have at least taken steps to bring grandparents further into this conversation. The NWT must be the next jurisdiction to bridge that gap and formally recognize grandparents in our legislation.

Later today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Colleagues, what is the wish of committee today? Ms. Bisaro.