Mr. Speaker, last month I joined former residential school students from across the Northwest Territories in Fort Providence for the Journey to Healing and Reconciliation Conference. The conference was hosted by the Dene Nation and featured several important discussions.
One panel discussion was led by Alex Janvier, who is a Denesuline Indian Residential Schools survivor and Order of Canada recipient, and Robbie Weismann, who is a Jewish Holocaust survivor. Another panel had Jane Morley, a commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, Indian Residential Schools Resolutions Canada and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
At this conference, Mr. Speaker, I was asked to speak about how the Government of the Northwest Territories is supporting former residential school students. I spoke about the Residential Schools Interagency Committee, which we have always been a part of and provide funding and support to. The interagency committee facilitates government and non-government agencies to share information with former students about available programs and services.
Specifically, the Department of Health and Social Services continues to provide trauma support, counselling and referral to advanced psychological services. The Department of Justice funds community programs that support and encourage healing. Court workers provide information on the legal system. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues to work with former students to provide records related to their school years.
Some of the people at the Fort Providence meetings acknowledged that we are the only provincial or territorial government that is providing support the way we do. They indicated how grateful they are for that support. They also indicated how important it is for the Government of the Northwest Territories to continue its support as we move into the truth and reconciliation phase of residential school resolution.
Later I also listened to some of the residential school survivors’ painful disclosures about what they went through, how they turned to alcohol or drugs to help them forget, and how difficult it had been to become straight and sober. This made me realize how much work we still need to do to assist survivors in their healing journeys.
It also made me realize that this government cannot afford to stop our support to residential school survivors and that we must in fact try to find ways to increase that support for our constituents, our friends and our relatives.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the interagency committee are now turning their attention to the truth and reconciliation panel. We will share details about the panel’s plans to travel through the Northwest Territories as soon as information is available.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
