Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the rate of reported spousal assaults in the Northwest Territories is one of the highest in the country, second only to Nunavut, measuring in at nine to 12 times the provincial average. Members of this Assembly recognize that fact as a crisis. In our priorities document before we created the mandate we committed to taking action on the crisis of family and community violence. When the mandate was developed we made a commitment to continue to support healing programs for men who use violence in intimate relationships, such as a New Day Healing Program. Today...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that we do provide O and M funding, I'm discussing a capital request that Dechinta had made to the federal government, and that was more the line of my question; if we have a competing interest versus federal and capital investment for Aurora College versus other post-secondary institutions. But I take the Minister's point that it's his assessment that all of our post-secondary partners are treated fairly.

If Dechinta or College nordique or anyone else who wants to invest in this Post-Secondary Strategic Investment Fund in the future or a fund similar to it...

Would the Minister agree that it's helpful if the government does write a letter of support for these funding applications? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In speaking with this I guess very important private sector in developing our economy, the number was much higher from them, around $30 million with additional sources of funding lined up for O and M endowments going forward. So my question then is what was Dechinta looking for from the department in order to support their proposal? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is the Minister aware of the total request for funding and the commitment that the federal government had made to this initiative from Dechinta? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased today to stand in support of this motion, and I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for their very hard work and for providing me, as an alternate member of that committee, to join the committee on the regular discussion around this topic.

Transparency and openness was a long-standing priority of many voters in the last election, and long-standing for many Northerners as well. The consensus government always needs to be evolving, and all systems of government do as well. We made some very bold steps early on. Allowing a...

At this point, the facilitators of the New Day Program are unsure of their continuing role in delivering this service in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister commit to meeting with the staff of the New Day Program and perhaps working on ways to improve the current existing program? I think Members of this House have signalled, by putting the name of the program in the mandate, that this is something we support, continue to support, and want to see preserved.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of Justice. In the 17th Assembly, the honourable Member for Great Slave was Minister of Justice at the time. During the time of his tenure as Justice Minister, he expressed his gratitude towards those involved with developing and delivering the New Day Program, as well as those men who were choosing a better way: "We know that family violence is deliberate. We know that violence is based on a pattern of behaviours against the will and against the well-being of family members. This program will be a significant step towards...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. This New Day Program has presented both nationally and internationally and soon there will be a national CBC documentary just about this program and how effective it has been. The last thing in speaking to New Day, they say we know this program works because people come back, and that speaks highly to its success rates.

If we're going to continue to tackle this problem, this crisis of family violence, and change our dubious distinction as the second worst in Canada we need to continue to support healing programs like this, and A New Day is a great...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand the discomfort around this line of questioning, so I will cease for now. Thank you.