Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In our public consultations, we heard community members speak positively of inmates doing work in their communities when they were incarcerated, that they were part of work programs and they did good volunteer work in the, or it was not necessarily volunteer, but good work in the community. It could be cutting lawns. It could be shovelling sidewalks. It could be stacking tables after a public event. The public consultation also indicated that people felt that was a very positive thing, to connect the community and the inmates together around a constructive activity, and...

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. I just wanted to say to this motion that one of the things that we really liked about the Nunavut Act, the Corrections Act, was that it had a significant cultural context in it reflecting the culture and language of the Inuit. We felt that by what we could do to reflect that in the Northwest Territories is to find a role for elders and spiritual advisers. They do exist there now, and they operate in group settings. We felt that the opportunity for private interviews may also be beneficial to inmates. That's the background to this decision. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Friday, August 23, 2019, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that this Legislative Assembly request the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories to dissolve the 18th Assembly of the Northwest Territories on August 31, 2019, to permit polling day for a general election to be held on October 1, 2019;

And further, that the Speaker transmit this resolution to the Commissioner. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, hereby table the Draft Code of Conduct and Guide for Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

That sounds like an interesting initiative. A final concern I have which the Minister has touched on is about the systemic changes needed to prevent children from going into care because of issues such as a lack of food and inadequate housing. The anti-poverty commitments, which the Minister has also represented, include a continuum of service and maybe should include a continuum of support. Can the Minister say what kind of prevention is taking place around this issue of neglect driving children into care?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to discuss some process issues with this bill. As you may know, we received the report on this act, this world-class, most-significant bill since the Devolution Act, yesterday, still warm from the photocopier, about two inches thick, and we who were not on the committee had no time or opportunity to go through it fully engaged, obviously, in what's happening here.

For people like me who are not part of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, I was at a real disadvantage to appreciate the complexity of the motions that were being proposed...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my statement today I spoke about the quality improvement plan for Child and Family Services that was tabled earlier this week. As I mentioned, the plan has many strengths, but I do have some concerns. The Minister has often said that too many priorities result in no priorities at all. Can the Minister say why he then endorsed 70 priorities in this plan? Thank you.

Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is this a good time to do opening comments on the bill, or wait until the witnesses are here?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Security assessment tools are standard practice in correctional facilities, and the concern that this particular recommendation addresses is that the assessment tool be particularly inclusive of the realities of Indigenous inmates, that, particularly, corrections staff look for security assessment tools that are culturally more appropriate than a standard tool that may be developed and used on a Caucasian population. We recognize that there are different tools, and we are encouraging with this motion that corrections finds and tries tools that may be more appropriate to...