Sandy Lee

I don’t think I got the answer as to whether those kinds of families are able to get some assistance under this program. Maybe I could ask in another way. Under this program, the money you have allocated here, can the families or whoever are absolutely homeless, do they have to go to the Centre for Northern Families or Salvation Army? Is that the only way they can access this help? Under this program, does the government or department or whoever is delivering the program, do they rent private space in private apartments if there is overflow of people who are in need or do we just book so many...

Who’s blushing?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will not be supporting this motion for three reasons. One is that, as I stated, this bill has nothing to do with the Civil Marriage Act in Ottawa. This is creating equal status between unmarried couples and other unmarried couples. It has nothing to do with marriage.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just for the benefit of the record, could I just get the Minister to state what this motion is to do? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, in Yellowknife on December 9, 2004, and February 16, 2005.

The committee would like to thank Egale Canada and Out North for their submissions and the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. Bill 17 is intended primarily to remove discriminatory treatment of same-sex and heterosexual common-law couples from a number of NWT acts. The bill is similar to what has been done by other Canadian jurisdictions in response to a decision...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Justice and it’s in regard to collection of judgment once someone wins a judgment from court. Mr. Speaker, the law we have with respect to collecting judgment in the North is very outdated, probably because it’s not something that’s on everybody’s mind all the time. The laws we have are that if you win a judgment and you want to collect against somebody and you have to file what’s called a garnishee, that only lasts only 10 days now. Which means everybody has to go to court and file it again, pay $5, then there are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I still think, far be it from me to call for a study, but this is a real problem. I would like to see the government do something solid and concrete by this fall; way before that so that the college and we are ready to get more students in. I would like to see the Minister do more than just having meetings with the stakeholders; not that there is anything wrong with that. Could I get the Minister to commit to reporting the results of all of his conversations and consultations to us by the June session, so that we can take part in it as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is International Women’s Day, but this week is Social Workers’ Week. Earlier this week the Minister of Health and Social Services made a statement in praise of the work that social workers do. This is also the first academic year where there were not enough students enrolling in the Social Workers’ Program at Aurora College. I have asked questions in this House about what the government is doing to see that that does not happen again. Surely, I think that we do need to produce our own social workers and if there are not enough people going in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the things that the people in this profession are saying is safer working conditions and probably a better compensation package. It doesn’t help that the government writes job descriptions in a way that seems to attract southern educated social workers, eliminating the chance for people up here to get a job. Will the Minister look into that as well, while he is studying -- yes, another study -- with a deadline, though, for June? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am still not getting the answer as to, Mr. Speaker, whether the Minister and government are interested in doing a review of the program at Aurora College. I can see that he is talking to various players, but I am not hearing that there will be any kind of formal process to really get to the bottom of what is going on. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that you can’t solve the problem unless you know what the problem is. I am not getting the indication that the government has a clear idea of what has happened. Can I get more solid information from him as to exactly how he...