Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Literacy Outreach Centre here in Yellowknife has been a partnership between Aurora College and Inclusion NWT since 1997. The program even won the Premier's Award in 2023 for its excellent results.

So when Aurora College first made its announcement about closing community learning centres, it wasn't immediately clear that the Literacy Outreach Centre would be affected. The staff hadn't even been informed, and enrolment had been high with 39 students in the current winter semester. The program was working. It was award winning. So surely it wouldn't be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And so if it's the RCMP that primarily is, you know, holding that database and keeping that information, are there any issues that the Minister sees with information sharing between the RCMP and the government to be able to identify appropriate interventions and supports for people, or is that sort of completely sorted out how information would flow back and forth or be shared between RCMP and the department? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know at some points in the past there had been the establishment of some different forms of interagency groups. At least within the city of Yellowknife when I was over at city council, I know there were times when groups were established that included the RCMP but also, you know, staff from ambulance services and staff from bylaw and just to try to coordinate their efforts. Because often it was the same person, you know, moving between those different services and if people could better understand what was happening with a particular person and what they were going...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That was what I was interested to know, but it's good to know that we have looked for efficiencies and we're also trying to work other territories as well as Indigenous governments to share that space. That's fine. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all for me. I really appreciate those comments and commitments.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I also wanted to ask some questions about this unit. I know that according to the monitoring and evaluation plan of this unit, my understanding is that the first year or so is to be focusing on finding what's core and not core. And then after that, looking at diving deeper or digging deeper into specific areas in terms of finding efficiencies or different ways of doing things. My concern with that timeline is that, you know, there's an urgent need to improve healthcare system; find, you know, ways to balance the budget; find efficiencies and that, you know, the work...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do feel like we're going in a bit of circle here. But I'll follow up further offline with the Minister. I do feel like there's still significant misunderstanding about how children can access the services of the Office of the Children's Lawyer because obviously if they're already in court, it feels likes it might be too late to wait for the judge to appoint the lawyer. And if they're expected to apply themselves, that also feels like an unrealistic expectation. So I do look forward to following up afterwards to try to clear this up because I do think it's important...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister have an anticipated timeline for when the government might be able to bring forward such legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So if we're -- I mean, I understand that obviously a baby or a toddler is not going to apply themselves. But if we have a child that's, like, eight or ten years old, are we expecting that child themselves to apply on their own, or is there -- I mean, I understand this goes beyond Department of Justice to department of HSS, but how can legal aid or how can justice ensure that children actually have the support and access to -- meaningfully access the services of the Office of the Children's Lawyer given that we probably aren't going to expect an eight or ten-year-old to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that the Minister has managed to do the work to find the amount that we're talking about here. Will the Minister commit, if there is another partner that steps up to continue the program, to reallocating those funds away from Aurora College to that partner, that $350,000 that's currently going to Aurora College? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.