Madam Speaker, I have a further return to question asked by Mr. Gargan on October 19th regarding actions taken by the Government of the Northwest Territories to ensure zero tolerance.
On October 25, 1994, the Hon. Stephen Kakfwi tabled a document entitled Zero Tolerance for Violence: A Status Report. The status report described a number of initiatives that are in place or being developed by departments to help achieve zero tolerance for violence.
Currently, victims of all forms of family violence, including physical and sexual assault, have varying options depending on the services available in their community. There are nine safe shelters in six regions, funded by the Department of Health and Social Services. These shelters provide emergency living, security and counselling services for victims and their children. The shelters are located in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Taloyoak, Cambridge Bay, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife. The communities of Aklavik, Fort Good Hope and Fort Providence receive contribution funding to provide violence prevention and public awareness services.
Madam Speaker, family violence prevention training for shelter workers is in the fourth year. It has been provided through federal funding. Shelter workers who receive this counselling and healing training become more skilled in helping victims of violence. A total of 60 workers have been trained this year.
Community social workers and community health nurses are the front-line workers who most often deal with victims of violence. Now that these workers are in the same department, it will be easier to develop effective ways of working together to provide better services to victims. This will be extended to include all community workers wherever possible. Madam Speaker, by working together as a team, community workers will be more effective in helping victims and their families. A mental health specialist is located in each region and is responsible for working with communities in the development of action plans to address a variety of mental health issues, including violence prevention.
There is a significant linkage between alcohol and drug abuse and family violence. The Department of Health and Social Services provides funding to deal with addictions, including the funding of 42 community alcohol and drug projects and four treatment centres. In addition, about $500,000 is spent annually on southern addictions treatment through funding from the federal government. The Department of Justice is participating in a federal/provincial/territorial effort to amend the criminal code in order to provide better protection to victims of violence.
Program areas in the Department of Justice directly related to violence are the victims' services program and the treatment of offenders. The Justice department provides financial support to community-based victim service providers in four communities. Additional support is given to a variety of other victim-related initiatives, through the victims' assistance fund. The department also employs correctional psychologists. Much of their work is with violence offenders or offenders who, themselves, experienced violence or abuse. The department also funds youth justice committees and employs regional community justice specialists.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has a number of strategies to address violence. These include the family violence interagency team workshops, the family life component of the school curriculum, a teaching guide for the teen sexual assault help book, and programs in the school such as non-violent crisis intervention and anger management.
We need to find better ways to work in partnership with communities, non-government organizations, and others to address the issue of violence in northern society. As outlined in the status report from Mr. Kakfwi, violence prevention issues are being addressed by the community wellness strategy. The community wellness strategy will place violence in a broad context, rather than isolating it and trying to deal with it as a single issue. The strategy will address the full range of social and mental health issues, including family violence.
The departments of Health and Social Services, Justice, and Education, Culture and Employment are working closely together to develop the strategy. Direction is being provided by representatives of community, non-governmental and aboriginal organizations from across the Northwest Territories. Madam Speaker, the community wellness strategy will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly during the Seventh Session. Thank you, Madam Speaker.