R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to go back because this was an issue that I dealt with as the Minister of ECE. So I would have to go back and look at that. But I imagine it might have something to do with the fact that it was the I believe the Dogrib Divisional Education Authority that was actually overseeing those residents. They weren't GNWT run in the same way that they were elsewhere, or church run. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member had a couple of questions in there. The earlier one, were there individuals in the system in the Northwest Territories who suffered hardship? Of course there were. I know them personally; I'm sure every Member of this House probably has stories about someone they know who was in the system. That being said, this is a settled agreement that I have no ability to influence. We would likely need changes to -- or potentially need changes to federal legislation, we would need the human rights tribunal to be on board, the Government of Canada I'm assuming. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this settlement stemmed from a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by the Assembly of First Nations and an additional society, I can't recall the name right now. This process, that was in 2007, and it was finally in 2023 that the agreement was settled after the human rights tribunal ordered Canada to pay a certain amount, which they appealed. It was then confirmed.

From my understanding, because we are not a party to this lawsuit, it wasn't our -- we had no option to opt into this. But the program, the First Nations Child and Family Services Program...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, I will present Bill 7, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2024, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 187-20(1): Costs to Access Land Titles and Red-Tape Reduction; and, Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 203-20(1): RCMP Response to Addictions Related Calls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, this was a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which I have no influence over. It ended up with an agreement, agreed to by the Government of Canada, and so I have no ability to open up that agreement, which was the result of, you know, 16 years essentially of litigation. So, no, unfortunately the answer is no, as far as I know. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 2, Missing Persons Act, be read for a third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't say that I disagree with much of what has been said today, and I've heard much of this from my MLA colleague from Hay River, the MLA for Hay River South, as well as the previous MLA for Hay River South, as well as myself as MLA for Hay River North. So I definitely recognize the scope of this issue. The government will be taking our time to formulate a response to this, so we will be abstaining from this vote, but we'll come back with a response in 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Members for their impassioned statements. I, as well, have spoken about this many times in the House, the impact of drugs. I didn't hear a lot of comments about the actual motion and the potential efficacy of this motion and so as a Cabinet, we are going to abstain so that we can actually take this back, look at the substance of the motion, look at how it might play out in the real world, and then provide a response back in 120 days. Thank you.