Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Justice. First off, I want to ensure that I understand the Minister's position on records of non-conviction based on our correspondence. As Justice Minister, do you believe the RCMP should release information on criminal incidences for which a person has never been lawfully convicted when the release of that information can result in unjust and even unlawful discrimination against innocent people? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm rising today to share one NWT resident's experience with a document called records of non-conviction and to call for the end of its use in Yellowknife.

A constituent of mine who was on income assistance got a job working with clients in the vulnerable sector. The employer properly requires applicants be screened to ensure that they don't have criminal records. Two days after getting the job, my constituent was let go. He has never been convicted of a criminal offence but the forms supplied by the RCMP detailed the things he was not convicted of. Mr. Speaker...

I appreciate the offer of the briefing and I will talk to my colleagues about how to make that operational. I think the thing is that the ways things exist now is that we're kind of left out of the picture except for the one Member on this side who attends those meetings on our behalf that we don’t have an active say in what topics are discussed and what positions are taken, and I believe that we should have a role in that because what the NWT looks like in the future is of concern to all of us. So my question again is whether the Minister in addition to offering a briefing can consider other...

Thank you to the Premier for that answer. Mr. Speaker, in June of this year I asked the Premier a series of questions about content of similar meetings held with the same group of people, and I asked him if he would keep Regular Members informed of and invite our input into positions being put forward at these meetings by him and other Members of Cabinet. Can the Minister explain why this didn't happen this time either? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his responses. A practice, of course, is no less unjust for being national rather than territorial in scope. These records of non-conviction are opposed by, among others, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the John Howard Society, and most recently the Government of Ontario, which is taking steps to outlaw their use.

The RCMP is a contracted provincial territorial police service in all jurisdictions except Ontario and Quebec. I am going to ask again, will the Minister of Justice consult with his provincial and territorial counterparts at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment produce a plan to implement junior kindergarten in 20172018, along with a fully costed budget for presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Development;

and further, that the department implement all the recommendations of the junior kindergarten review tabled in February;

and furthermore, that, in developing an implementation plan...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to table these e-mails and I will pursue my concerns in greater detail at another time. But my last question in this string is to ask the Minister what his department has done proactively to explain the changes to people who receive income assistance about their allowances. Not about the child benefit, the Canada child benefit, but about the change in the income assistance allowances.

To say again, this is an e-mail exchange where the Minister has signed the e-mails and the resident has signed the e-mails, and he expresses his concern about the reduction of food and clothing allowances within the Income Assistance Regulations. Could the Minister please clarify that, in fact, he has heard concerns about the changes that have been made?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to introduce Jacq Brasseur, she's the driving force behind the new Rainbow Youth Centre in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I MOVE, seconded by the Honourable Member for Great Slave, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on October 20, 2016, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, October 25, 2016;

AND FURTHER, that at any time prior to October 25, 2016, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice...