Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start off today’s Member’s statement by referencing a document that’s been before the House. It was the NWT Standing Committee on Social Programs did a review of the Child and Family Services Act and it was authored by Cindy Blackstock – she was a PhD – back in April of 2010. The reference of her document was called I Want to Grow Up in My Community and it’s a review.
The good work done in that report, I feel it’s necessary to highlight the very first line because I think that’s what really becomes the most shocking and hopefully powerful, and it will resonate through this statement. It says: “Aboriginal children account for 95 percent of children in child welfare care in the Northwest Territories, while representing only 50 percent of the population in this territory.”
Those factors, of course, are driven by neglect, poverty, housing, substance abuse, domestic violence and many, many other issues. If there’s one thing I certainly got immediately by reading that first sentence, I was shocked and dismayed and I thought, in what type of world is this normal. This can’t be normal here, and if it is normal here, what are we doing about it.
I’ve often been told about social workers who come to the Northwest Territories and I’ve often even heard about social workers employed in the Department of Health and the high turnover. The question is: Are we hiring the right types of social workers? Are they culturally shocked? Are they unfamiliar with the territory? Are they unfamiliar with the residential school legacy, the people, the small communities, the language?
Many social workers will travel up here on the circuit of experience, thinking let’s come to the promised land of challenge. When I get my bag of opportunities so full with tools and experiences, I can then challenge and go get a better job somewhere else.
The question I have for today more is built around training. I’m not going to blame this Department of Health and Social Services for what may not necessarily be their fault; on this one, that is. I’ll say that maybe training the right people has not been our true fight. Where has our crusade been to challenge this mountain? I view this as sometimes it’s have we asked ourselves the tough questions, are we providing the training access that we need. Aurora College provides a diploma program, but is that enough?
When I go back to the reference of 95 percent of the children in the Northwest Territories under custody are Aboriginal, I’m asking: Are we training the right people? Are we training Northerners? Are we training Aboriginal people? Are we training the people in the communities to help their own folks? I assert to you, I’m not sure we are and I think the statistics speak for themselves.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you. This is actually the first time in this term, I think, I’ve asked for more time because I feel it’s such an important topic to ensure my statement fully gets out.
I ask ourselves: Is the diploma program enough? I will tell you the diploma program itself is great, but it’s not enough. Have we done all that we can? I don’t believe we are doing all we can. I believe if our government is serious about training social workers who are in touch with the people, who are in touch with the culture, who are in touch with the communities, we should be asking ourselves: Why aren’t we leaning towards a Bachelor of Social Work Program?
As such, later today I will have questions for the Minister who is in charge of Aurora College, about asking what it will take to get this program appropriately done just like we did for the teachers and just like the nurses. Let’s do it. I believe we can. Thank you.
