Robert Villeneuve

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I just want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services questions related to my Member’s statement on the NWT Suicide Prevention Program. Just in the wake of the last recent announcement by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment of the big increase in income support programs here in the NWT, which is good, Mr. Speaker, and I really commend the Minister for making that announcement, but I'm also disappointed that the NWT Suicide Prevention Program has not received any increase in any funding over the last few years, Mr. Speaker, and I think that the...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, while some presenters felt penalties should be increased further and minimum fines be introduced, others in Fort Smith and Fort Simpson suggested that by extending off-sale, premise and liquor store hours, bootlegging would become less attractive and lucrative. For example a Tsiigehtchic resident suggested mandatory jail time as a solution while a Fort Smith town councillor commented, “I think when it comes to bootlegging, what you want to do there is try to defer that activity from happening. … But by restricting hours and restricting the amount of alcohol that’s...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that if we…I just want to talk about basically government dollars in general related to social issues such as unemployment, poverty, education levels and the lack of opportunities and cultural identity here in the NWT. All those factors have something to do with the rates of suicide that we have here in the NWT. I think the government has to take a holistic approach when addressing suicide prevention in the smaller communities, because it certainly doesn't work with just providing suicide awareness programs at the community level. This has got to be a broad...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to ask the Minister, during the October suicide prevention workshop, it's fine and dandy that we get a lot of keynote speakers there to make some presentations on suicide prevention especially amongst aboriginal youth, Mr. Speaker, but I want a commitment from this government that this government will support and provide these smaller communities not only with just community wellness dollars that will help these people find assistance directly in their own communities because a lot of youth don't want to deal with people in their own communities. A lot of...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to raise the very serious issue of suicide awareness and prevention here in the NWT. This issue has been raised many times here in the past four years, Mr. Speaker, but recently has become a very sensitive issue for myself due to the fact that my family has been affected by the suicide of a close relative.

We are all aware that the NWT has more than two times the national average of suicide rates in Canada. We have not seen any real improvement in programs and services related to suicide awareness, suicide prevention or aftercare services...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I also rise in support of this motion, but I have to agree with some of my colleagues here. I do support in principle that we could use a bridge, but I do support this motion as amended because, as various other Members have pointed out, it does make us more accountable and more transparent; more importantly, it makes us more responsible to the electorate. As far as I can see, this bridge is going to be paid for by all residents of the NWT over the next 35 or 40 years and I think it’s to those residents that we owe all the transparent information that we can give them to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to get back, I don’t know if when the seniors went out, they researched properties that might have been available. They went to the landowner, they got them to get in contact with the Housing Corporation to build a six-plex. To me, it’s always been a six-plex right from day one. This is part of the affordable housing initiative. The seniors did assure the Housing Corporation that we have a list of 97 seniors whose average age is 68 years old in the community. Many of them are waiting to get into the seniors’ six-plex, so you can rest assured that there is...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since we are on the topic of elder abuse, it’s a good time to read my Member’s statement to talk about some of the housing issues that have come to my attention lately.

Mr. Speaker, about six months ago, the Deninu Kue Seniors' Society, which represents the interest of nearly 100 seniors in Deninu Kue, all of an average age of about 68 years old, made a recommendation to the Housing Corporation to build a six-plex to house seniors in independent living somewhere near the seniors complex. Mr. Speaker, the regional office came back outlining what the Housing Corporation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to know they only need this one piece of information left, but I have to remind the Minister, when you are trying to get all these community organizations to come together to support something that seems like a good initiative for the community, it’s always really difficult when you are talking about dollar allocations within the community. To go out there and start negotiating another round of negotiations and agreements with all these local organizations by the seniors' society, that just really puts a lot of strain on what they have already done. Can his...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Just with what I mentioned earlier in my Member’s statement, I just want to ask the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation if his point of view is the same as mine, that elders know what is best for elders, especially in our smaller communities. The elders in the seniors' society in Fort Resolution went to great lengths to acquire property, get the Housing Corporation on side to move forward on an initiative of building a seniors' independent living six-plex and now it has been put on the back burner by the Housing Corporation. I just want to ask the Minister...