Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The action plan will be public and it will include details on actions as well as providing some time frames. Performance reporting will also be public for anybody who wants to look at it. I can commit to updating the action plan with progress reports on a regular basis. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
From the action plan and the communication plan, I’m hoping that the Minister would look at all forms of communication and methods out there, CKLB or radio, not just a website. When you look at some of the stats in the Sahtu region, not all households in the communities are hooked up to the Internet. So, we don’t have everybody going to the website and English is not always their first language. There’s a high percentage of our people. So I guess in that sense, the target area, it’s the older people, then it has to be done in Dene Kede and do it in English there. So the communication plan needs to be constructed so that the grandparents know what’s happening if their children are in the care of a social worker or whatever. They know their rights, they know what they’re entitled to and that the communication plan is evaluated to say are we effective. So I wanted to mention that to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Motion is carried.
---Carried
Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the Department of Health and Social Services conduct a thorough review of its accountability framework for child and family services to identify existing deficiencies and implement mechanisms to enhance accountability. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Motion is in order. To the motion, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just briefly again, one of the things that we discovered through the report, the Auditor General pointed out that there really is no accountability framework right now that the Department of Health and Social Services is using within the child and family services division. It is extremely important if we are to stop putting children at risk, if we’re going to stop the gaps that have been created in services and if we’re going to make sure that deficiencies don’t continue to exist. We need an accountability framework and we need to have far better accountability within that division than we do right now. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion, Mr. Yakeleya.
I also want to say, Mr. Chair, that the Sahtu believes that the department in terms of its, I would say not a strong accountability framework, and nobody was held accountable on those. It was quite shocking when the Auditor General looked at this. So I look certainly to this Minister to strengthen the accountability, because everybody is doing it and nobody is holding them to account. It’s almost like you’re doing this and you’re doing this, but nobody is holding them to account and they may have good intentions, but that’s not it. No wonder we have some issues that we’re dealing with, with the children in our small communities that are in the North here.
So, again, if there’s something that the Minister duly noted, that he’ll look at the accountability framework, that would really help, I think, all of us and I certainly look forward to seeing what type of mechanisms he’s going to put in place for the accountability.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What was really apparent in the Auditor General’s report was the disconnect between the central headquarters, or Health and Social Services, and the regional authorities. It came to the point there was a bunch of affected communities; call it zigzags in terms of reporting. In some respects, structures were working in isolation of themselves. So it’s an immediate thing that the department has to check in terms of accountability. Who is accountable at the end of the day in terms of the children and families that have to go through the system? So it’s essential that we expect at least that matters that will at least encourage us to believe that accountability measures will be put in place. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When the absence of required annual reports are not noted and profiled, then I think there’s obviously the need for this motion. I’ll be supporting it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion, Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ve already responded to this and identified or, rather, made a commitment under recommendation 7 this work is already in progress. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Motion is carried.
---Carried
Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that contribution agreements with the health and social services authorities be immediately amended to include a performance component clearly indicating that funding is contingent on compliance with the Child and Family Services Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The motion is in order. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Again, one of the things we found through the Auditor General’s report is there’s great difficulty in keeping the health and social services authorities to account. They have contribution agreements, but they don’t have performance agreements as a separate agreement or within the contribution agreement. Committee felt that in order to get the accountability from the authorities that is required by the department, there needed to be a performance component in the contribution agreement and that’s what this motion speaks to. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Also along with Ms. Bisaro’s comments, I guess you’re looking at a situation where the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Even though they’re doing the same service, even in the accountability framework, who do you report to? Who are you accountable to? We didn’t know this until the Auditor General did the audit. They brought up all these issues. So some of the issues we’ve raised with the Minister, the government. People are telling us stuff in the communities who have to deal with child apprehension or dealing with Social Services. They are telling us real stuff, things they have to deal with. I’ve dealt with it myself also in our small communities. Our health boards are being told one thing and the department another thing. So I guess it’s realigning the package together. Mr. Abernethy did talk about something they are already doing, which hopefully will help with this situation. This is a long-term solution we are talking about which would make a big difference in our communities.
We’ve got to put the hands together and this is what this motion is saying. Right now they are like this. I hope that they’re slowly coming together. I like this motion and the key component here is the performance aspect of this motion. I hope that the Minister is working on this within the life of this government.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Contribution agreements already require the health and social services authorities to comply with applicable laws and policies and that every payment is conditional of the fulfillment of the authority’s obligations under their agreements.
This clause, I feel, is specific enough to cover what the committee is asking for in the committee’s proposal, but obviously more is needed. What is needed is better enforcement and better monitoring. I’m concerned, or rather, realistically, withholding funding from an authority is not necessarily the answer. My focus and the department’s focus is on the patient and the resident and the client. It needs to be that.
I think withholding funding from the authority would just create a reduction in delivery of essential programs to clients, so I’m not sure withholding funds is going to get us to where we need to be. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny, can I have the report of Committee of the Whole, please.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Committee Report 6-17(5), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2014 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Northwest Territories Child and Family Services, and I would like to report progress with 10 motions adopted. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Do I have a seconder to the motion? Mr. Moses.
---Carried
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the third time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, has had third reading.
Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015, be read for the third time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015, has had third reading.
Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Unanimous consent granted
