Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that pursuant to Rule 9.4(5)(a) that the Government of the Northwest Territories table a comprehensive response to this report, including all recommendations, within 120 days or at the earliest opportunity subsequent to the passage of 120 days.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. The motion's in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion has carried.
---Carried
Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to report its Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 14-20(1), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories ombud, be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. The motion's in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? Motion has carried.
---Carried
Standing committee on Government operations report on the review of the 2023-2024 annual report of the northwest territories ombud
Introduction
The Standing Committee on Government Operations (Committee) has reviewed Speaking up for Fairness: 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud (Annual Report).1 The Committee thanks Ms. Krista Carnogursky, recently appointed Ombud, for her appearance before Committee on August 26, 2024.2
Section 33 of the Ombud Act requires the Ombud to prepare an annual report.3 The 2023-2024 report highlights the Ombud’s focus on investigating inquiries and complaints, public education and outreach, and continuing advocacy to update the Ombud Act.
About the NWT Ombud
The NWT Ombud promotes administrative fairness in territorial government administration and services. The powers and duties of the Ombud include:
•
Investigating complaints from people who feel territorial authorities have treated them unfairly.
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Own initiative investigations to help improve government services.
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Public education on the principles of administrative fairness.
Observations
Committee wishes to express our gratitude to the previous Ombud, Ms. Colette Langlois, for her tireless work to bring the Office of the Ombud to life over the last five years. From the enactment of the Ombud Act in 2018, Ms. Langlois and her team advocated for fairer policies, practices, and communications, helped make services fairer and more person-centred, and participated in numerous outreach and education opportunities to inform the public of the Ombud’s Office.
Staffing
In the 2022-2023 annual report and public hearing, the Ombud expressed concerns that the Office lacks the capacity and resources to carry out its full mandate. The 2023-2024 Annual Report and public briefing highlight this worry again, with a 45% increase in inquiries to the Office and increased demand for new training and presentations.
As the Ombud’s Office continues to build trust in communities through outreach, it will need to meet the increased demand for its services. Committee wishes to reiterate a recommendation from the CR 6-20(1) Report on the Review of the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud and Special Report on Recommendations for Amendments to the Ombud Act:
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Legislative Assembly, in consultation with the Ombud, identify and address any shortfalls in budget or resources that may inhibit the Ombud’s Office from fulfilling its mandate.
Conclusion
This concludes the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud Commission.
Committee eagerly awaits the government’s response to Committee’s recommendations in CR 6-20(1) Report on the Review of the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud and Special Report on Recommendations for Amendments to the Ombud Act.4 As the recommendation identified above was included in Committee’s report on the 2022-2023 Annual Report, Committee will review that response and follow up directly as necessary.
Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 14-20(1), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Ombud, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. The motion's in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? Motion has been carried.
---Carried
Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that pursuant to Rule 9.4(5)(a) that the Government of the Northwest Territories table a comprehensive response to this report, including all recommendations, within 120 days or at the earliest opportunity subsequent to the passage of 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Motion's in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? Motion has carried.
---Carried
Reports of Standing and Special Committees. Returns to oral questions. Acknowledgements.
Colleagues, I'm going to call a ten-minute break to give our translators a bit of a break, and we will come back as soon as we can. Thank you very much.
---SHORT RECESS
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Justice. The 15th Assembly ultimately killed the previous attempt at SCAN legislation in 2007. So my question is has the department revisited this legislative concept between that time in 2007 and now prior to the 20th Assembly, or are we just starting from square one? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I believe it was 2007 is when this was first brought forward, and in the interim period the department hasn't done a lot of work looking at SCAN. A lot of work was done back then and so there's a bit of a base that we can start from but as with anything, a lot changes in 16, 17, 18 years. So there's still a lot of work to be done but it will be informed by other pieces of legislation from around the country that have been operating for an additional, you know, 15, 16 years since then as well as court challenges that have been brought against those pieces of legislation. So we're not starting from scratch, but there's a significant amount of work to do and consultation to do as well. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you for that, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. Sounds like there's some interjurisdictional scan -- no pun intended -- being done there. Can the Minister be specific about what preliminary work his legal staff is conducting with regards to SCAN legislation so that it will, in effect, be a scalpel instead of an unconstitutional hammer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as the Member alluded to, there is cross-jurisdictional scans that will be required. There's examination of the Charter challenges that have been brought forward. There's going to have to be discussions, obviously engagement, throughout the territory on this, engagement with other jurisdictions who have had the legislation. So there's a lot of work, and I don't plan on making this an unconstitutional hammer. There was a challenge in the Yukon recently. There was a decision rendered that one minor section -- or one section -- I won't say minor, of that SCAN Act was unconstitutional. From what I understand, it was a rarely used section of that act, and there is not -- there's not an appeal that's being pursued by the Yukon government so that's essentially a settled matter. And we're going to learn from that and ensure that the legislation that we do enact is tailored to the territory, is fair to residents, and achieves its goals in a constitutional way. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'm hearing that the Minister of Justice is wanting to tailor it to the territories, so I'm just going to build a little on that.
We've heard many times in this House from smaller community MLAs that folks in smaller communities have resorted to vigilantism to scare out dealers. So what kinds of considerations is the Minister instructing his staff to make this legislation do to make sure that it works well for both the needs of the capital and the needs of our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we're a little early in the process to start giving direction on how to proceed. I want to see those jurisdictional scans, I want to see the research that is done, and then we can figure out how to move forward. But to the Member's point, I do want to ensure that this -- there's differences between a small community perhaps with no RCMP and somewhere like Yellowknife. And so it's going to -- you know, it won't be easy to find that balance, but I'm confident that we can do that. So the Member can rest assured that we will be taking into consideration the needs of the different sizes and types of communities in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. In my brief reviewing of this issue, I'm curious about some other tools. Will the Minister also consider looking at community safety orders or amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act that will provide fair and thorough processes that would lead to the eviction of suspected drug dealers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And yes, the Residential Tenancies Act, it will be reviewed by this upcoming summer. That is stipulated. And we'll see what we can do in there. I want to look at every avenue that we have to ensure that we're protecting communities, not supporting drug dealers and drug houses, and finding every way to give communities and the RCMP the tools they need to protect communities. Thank you.
Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be to the Minister of health. I highlighted an email the CEO of NTHSSA has received, amongst many other GNWT employees, regarding concern brought forward of what someone perceives as human rights issues, abuse, and neglect on youth at a particular facility.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to hear about by what way of process is going on at this current time to investigate or get to the bottom of these particular issues to ensure that there's a fulsome investigation and assessment of these concerns highlighted? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member is referring to a current investigation, I cannot, you know, discuss any investigations publicly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the Child and Family Services Act, it relatively seems silent on the area of when it's duty to report to the RCMP. There's been serious concerns brought up with respect to human rights, abuse, and neglect of youth. What threshold does it take to engage the RCMP on these particular matters of urgency? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within investigations when child and family services is involved, if there are any legal implications within the investigation then they will, you know, report to RCMP or to whomever that needs to happen. And sometimes RCMP are part of investigations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister brought it up, so I'm going to ask, have the RCMP been engaged early to ensure that there's been a fulsome study of this particular issue so there's been -- there will be no delay, if any? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Yellowknife Centre, I think the Minister has made it very clear there's a criminal investigation going on and she can't talk specifically about this investigation. So if you could reword the question so it doesn't involve the investigation, if it's process and policies, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, or I should say Mr. Speaker Whitford on the side, the way to massage, give the Member another chance.
Mr. Speaker, the issue here is that I want to make sure that -- is there any -- are there any barriers, policy barriers, Mr. Speaker, stopping the department from engaging the RCMP to join any potential investigation that she foresees? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said previously, any investigation that child and family services does, if there is found that there may be criminal findings during their investigation, they will report to the appropriate -- and if it's -- it would be RCMP in that case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister said if they find something. So in other words, what skills does this investigator bring to the table that they can properly assess if a crime has been done? So in other words, I'm asking, Mr. Speaker, what qualifications does this investigator carry to ensure that they are able to absolutely with great certainty make a decision one way or the other? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Are you talking hypothetical? I'm trying to -- like, if you're asking about the situation then it cannot be asked, so.
No, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister said there was an investigation, if I heard on there, because she can't comment, so I'm asking what skills do they bring to this -- the person doing the process. So do they have the skills -- sorry? So I'm asking about their qualifications to be able to identify the issues as pointed out that could be referred to the RCMP.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the team consists -- when investigations happen, they are done by social workers. Social workers' experience -- are experienced in conducting investigations of this nature and once the investigation steps are completed, you know, they will do the process that they have to do. If there's a criminal process that they have to report, they have a duty to report then they will do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
