Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to discuss difficulties encountered by Yellowknife residents who happen to be clients of the Income Assistance Program.

Every MLA in here has heard from constituents regarding how hard it is to get decent customer service from Education, Culture and Employment’s Income Support Program. But in Yellowknife, because the office is located in the Greenstone Building, a very secure federal building, it presents special difficulties for clients who have to visit the office to meet with their client service officer, or CSO. The CSOs work in an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, November 5, 2009, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the government provide clearly articulated preference for persons with disabilities and clearly articulate how persons with disabilities fit within the existing priority hiring categories; and further, that the Department of Human Resources develop and publicize an awareness campaign outlining all categories of the Affirmative Action Policy and the...

Thanks to the Minister. I accept the explanation of the on-call system, but again I would have to say that this is a system that is not working. The experience of the constituents that I have heard from is that they go to reception, they are told to make a phone call, they phone their CSO who doesn’t happen to be there. There is then no opportunity for them to speak to anybody else. The receptionist doesn’t help them. They are not transferred to the on-call duty officer. Again, I think the Minister needs to do some investigation into this.

I understand that there’s confidentiality issues and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the NWT Motor Vehicle Act be amended to ban the use of hand-held devices while driving; and further, that the Department of Transportation initiate a comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform the public about the risks of driving while distracted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the offer from the Minister to get me the information on who we have agreements with and where they are. I presume most of our agreements are with Edmonton or Calgary organizations. But I wonder, if we have agreements with outside of Alberta, with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, B.C., etcetera, or if we have them with a number of different communities or cities, how is it that as a matter of course it takes an awfully long time for an inmate to get a psychiatric assessment? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Justice. In my Member’s statement I spoke to a particular situation which, unfortunately, transpired over the last eight to nine months, and I wonder if the Minister could explain to me why this particular individual had to endure an eight-month wait before he could get out for an assessment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This inquiry has been a long and a difficult process and it has been somewhat complicated by the fact that it is a new and an untested process. This is the first time that we have gone this route after a change in the Legislation in the 15th Assembly. This complaint was the first test of that new process.

I’d like to thank everybody who was involved, particularly Mr. Hughes, who adjudicated marvellously; Mr. Gerrand, who accepted the letter of complaint initially; counsel for Mr. Hughes; and also the counsel for the respondent, Mr. Roland.

It is most gratifying to me...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that. I guess I would reiterate that if we are dealing only with Alberta and that’s not suiting our needs, then we need to look beyond Alberta and look to other jurisdictions and make agreements with other hospitals, other organizations, other provinces.

My final question to the Minister has to do with the suggestion in my Member’s statement. As the Minister responsible for Justice and several other departments, I’d like to ask him to comment on the suggestion whether or not the department has ever considered the possibility of developing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question was addressed to the process, not to the individual. I wonder if the Minister could explain to me, and to the House, what our current situation is with regard to agreements that we have for providers of...who we have who provides psychiatric assessments for us in the NWT, who they’re with and what our situation is with that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak to a situation that has recently been highlighted by one particular remanded individual. This man was arrested, determined to need a psychiatric assessment and held in jail to wait for an appointment for his assessment. It is now some eight months later that he has finally gone out to get the evaluation that he needs.

This may be a one-of-a-kind experience, not the norm, and I certainly hope it’s not the norm, but it is an experience, nevertheless, which should not occur. I understand the courts and the accused must wait for an available placement date...