Yellowknife Centre

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is hard to overstate the importance of this motion. It is the key motion of all that have been made here. It builds, as my colleague said, on a request that goes back almost 20 years to try to quantify caseloads and workloads for people providing services to families and children who are in care. It is important not only that the government use this information to catch the system up to where it should be now to provide the full range of services, but also there is a plan that will guide the government into the future about the resources that are required. For this...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

I just have to make sure I understand what was said there. This plan is becoming part of another plan, and the other plan is coming to us I'm not sure when?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One would think that the Foster Family Coalition of the Northwest Territories would play a central role in the role of children in care, but it is my information that they don't, that information is not readily shared with them, and that they do not, in fact, take a central role in advocacy and training for other foster families. There is an opportunity here, with this resolution, to increase the collaboration between the department and the Foster Family Coalition, and I urge the department to take advantage of that opportunity. Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last December the federal government released its framework on palliative care in Canada. The framework is a counterpoint to the 2016 introduction of assisted dying legislation. It identifies four priority areas for action intended to improve access to palliative care. They include palliative care education and training for healthcare providers and caregivers; measures to support palliative care providers; research and the collection of data on palliative care; and finally, measures to facilitate equitable access to palliative care, particularly for underserviced...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not part of the committee that produced this report, but I want to talk about how important it is. Government provides a wide range of programs and services to residents, but there are few as vulnerable as children who are in car. It is not once, but twice, as we know, that the Auditor General has pointed out the limitations and failings, quite frankly, of the response to children in care.

I am aware that the Minister has taken this report seriously, and he has implemented a number of changes, such as those he reported on today in his Ministerial statement, and I...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

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

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you to the Minister for that commitment. In order to increase transparency, can the Minister commit to creating a line item in the next budget which shows taxpayers what is being spent on the development of a polytechnic university?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a couple more questions for the Minister. The first one is: how much is the budget for this position in the next fiscal year? Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

The last Aurora College report shows that they were projecting a deficit of $374,000. I do wonder if that is still the case, given the fact that two programs have been discontinued, the board has been dismissed, and the president resigned just a little bit into the new fiscal year. Is there money available at Aurora College to pay this position and related expenses?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 68)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and I am following up on questions I asked about her budget in Committee of the Whole last week. First, could the Minister tell us whether the new ADM of Post-secondary Education is being paid by the college or being paid by the department? Mahsi.