Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is kind of a long-standing issue that has been raised by previous reviews of child and family services. The Child Welfare League was asked to do some work on this in the past, after the last Auditor General report. It stubbornly remains a stumbling block to really understanding how to solve some of the deficiencies within the provision of child and family services. The 2019-2020 budget, there is $3.5 million additional. My concern at the time and it continues to be a concern is: we know that money can be used, but we don't know how effective it will be.

I have heard...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services act immediately to ensure that all gaps in screenings and reviews identified by the Office of the Auditor General, including screening for guardianship agreements and foster homes, are addressed, and that it advise the committee when this is completed.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Of course, I wouldn't call this so much whistle-blowing as more of a way to support staff who are in very trying circumstances. We have heard the concerns around the burden of reporting, the limited resources, and the limited number of staff to work with. I recognize that there is some new money going into creating some new positions that should help, but for those people who do have issues with either the policy environment or other issues that may arise, they need to have a conduit for that information to flow to the relevant authorities and to ensure that they feel...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that any government department, board, or agency being audited produce a draft action plan or implementation plan in response to the audit, provide the committee with a copy of that plan consistent with the appropriate process conventions, and present the plan at the committee's public hearing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, this is one in our series in motions in support of foster parents in the Child and Family Services system. In this case, it is to ensure that information is being shared appropriately and effectively so that foster parents are not left asking questions or do not know who to go to for help. I take my colleague's point from Yellowknife Centre that it is a two-way relationship. Certainly the standing committee is very sympathetic to that concern and wanted to create this package of recommendations that find new ways and more efficient and effective ways to support...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On February 26, 2019, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its Report on the Review of the 2018 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Northwest Territories Child and Family Services. The committee report included 13 recommendations, and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss the details of the report and the recommendations in Committee of the Whole today. Members of the committee may have individual comments apart from these, but I will not reread the extensive report we read into the record. Nothing further for now, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, the committee, in our deliberations around how we felt the issues that were raised by the report that really needed to be addressed, felt that the role of foster parents in the system and the government's working relationship with them really needed to be improved. Committee noted that the resources for providing training to foster parents was really insufficient, with many foster parents not having any formal training at all.

Committee is very concerned by this and wants to ensure that anyone who is caring for children in the system has the adequate resources and...

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today on the occasion of Commonwealth Day, the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, observed by roughly 2.4 billion people in 53 countries around the world, spread over every continent and ocean.

The day will be celebrated with a broad range of activities, including faith and civic gatherings, debates, school assemblies, flag raising ceremonies, street parties, cultural events, and a multicultural, multi-faith service at Westminster Abbey, where the head of the Commonwealth, the sovereign Her Majesty the Queen, will deliver an...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one of several motions involving the front-line workers and actors who are engaged in the system who might not necessarily be government employees. The committee recognizes the enormous role that foster families and extended families play in support for children in care and that their experience is crucial to making the system work. We made a number of recommendations. This one is the first that calls for strengthening the working relationship with these community stakeholders.

Many of our committee members come from or have experience with traditional backgrounds...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that my colleague, the honourable Member for Tu NedheWiilideh, spoke about the complex nature of some of the root causes that cause the intervention of Child and Family Services. There is really not a single solution; I agree. It is not in the Auditor General's report, what is going to fix the problem. It is not expending millions of dollars without a plan. It is, really, working with communities and figuring out where the strengths of those communities are and applying those strengths holistically so that we can ensure that communities feel supported.

With an...