Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Justice. The A New Day Program is going to sunset at the end of December, and I understand that a clause in the current contract would let the department and the Tree of Peace extend the program by one year. So I would like to ask the Minister what funds are available within the department's planning budget to continue the men's program in 2017-2018? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we are waiting for an evaluation of the A New Day Program, as I have mentioned previously, and I'm not certain of the exact amount of funds that we may have available. So I will look into that matter and get back to the Member opposite. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the A New Day ends as the department plans, how long would it take for the department to reinstate the men's program following that gap in services?
Again, Mr. Speaker, we are waiting for the evaluation of the program. Certainly we recognize the concerns expressed about there being a gap, and we will try to address that matter once we have had a full review of the report.
When does the department plan to complete and share with the Regular Members its evaluation of the A New Day Program?
The final evaluation of the A New Day Program is being finalized even as we speak. I'm expecting to receive that within the next week, and I will share it with Members opposite as soon as possible after that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know we are meeting in December as Regular Members, so I'm sure we will get an update at that time. Hopefully we have some good news that this program will continue, as it is making a big difference for a lot of people and is successful, so it only makes sense to continue. So will the Minister ensure that the program continues? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Certainly, Mr. Speaker, we are committed to this type of program. But we are, again, waiting for the evaluation of the A New Day Program and we are very much looking forward to receiving that report.
As I said, we should be receiving it shortly. Again, we are committed to the type of program. We are very much looking forward to this evaluation, as we recognize that this is a very important issue within the Northwest Territories. So as soon as we get the report and have reviewed it in Cabinet, we will share it with the Members opposite. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
