Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during my visit back home, I had the opportunity to talk to a number of residents, and they had some concerns. Mr. Speaker, as more and more housing situations occur, I have been more perplexed on why things happen with the Housing Corporation. Just recently, I was informed the contractors have the first right of refusal to the extra material for housing contracts. This does not seem right, since the clients have to pay some sort of cost for these projects. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation please...

The Minister is right. He has asked me to get that information to him, and I will get that information to him. I guess the next question for the Minister: what kind of work has the department been doing to train other departments in working to help address this challenging issue?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was talking about mental health and mental illness, and I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister please tell us what kind of training front-line workers are doing besides Mental Health First Aid? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is great news and I must publicly thank the Minister for sharing this information here today. I was very concerned during the budget process, and now I'm happier to hear this good news. I have to recognize the hard work that the department and Minister have done to this date. Can the Minister advise if this good news e-mail can be shared with the public?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the past four months, we've witnessed five tragedies that have deeply saddened the families, friends, our communities, and myself. Unfortunately, these types of tragedies happen across the world daily. I know it's very difficult to talk about, but it needs to be spoken about here today. Mr. Speaker, mental illness has long been misunderstood and unfairly judged. We need to strive to break this stigma. Mental illnesses are not a choice. They often make life difficult for those who suffer from them, as well as their family and friends. When looking at this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I, too, have taken the Mental Health First Aid training, but also have taken Strengthen Children's Mental Health as well, and basically, what I am looking at is: can the Minister make a commitment to work with his colleagues, the other Ministers, to have the front-line staff get some training out there? Because we are having lots of tragedies out there. We are seeing a lot of losses of lives, and it is really disappointing. Will the Minister work with the Minister of MACA and the Minister of ECE to get the front-line workers out...

I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess we are seeing too many tragedies out here in this world, especially in all of our ridings. As we move forward, will the Minister look at other alternatives such as the strengthening mental health for children offered through NWTRP as an opportunity for front-line workers to be using that course?

I'd like to thank the Minister for allowing us to share this good information again out to the public. Mr. Speaker, with this plan in place, can the Minister explain the next steps to implement this plan and provide a potential timeline, like job descriptions and stuff like that, that have to be done?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the budget process, the Department of Health and Social Services received new funding to support enhanced homecare and youth in crisis. On Thursday, we received an e-mail from the Minister of Health and Social Services identifying a proposed plan to allocate this funding. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services please provide further information on the plan to us here today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I totally agree that equity leases are all over the board, and I am glad the Minister is looking at that and trying to resolve that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise us, if somebody has an equity lease, do they have to purchase their land if private ownership is allowed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.