This is page numbers 331 - 364 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.

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Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, I have four documents I would like to table. The first one is document from the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nations requesting they be exempted from the rent scale initiatives. It's a petition.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The second one is a letter from Chief Sam Gargan regarding the new rent scale initiatives.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The third document is a leadership motion from Deh Cho First Nations regarding the new rent scale initiatives.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The fourth document is a BCR from the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nations regarding the housing crisis in our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. Mr. Dent.

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the social agenda conference report called for a Family Violence Prevention Act;

AND WHEREAS on November 3, 2000, this Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a declaration on family violence;

AND WHEREAS this declaration will emphasize a Member's individual commitment to address family violence, also affirmed the collective commitment of the 14th Assembly to work in partnership with communities and leaders to help lift the silence surrounding family violence and create caring supports for people experiencing violence;

AND WHEREAS this government has failed to provide adequate support for people experiencing family violence;

AND WHEREAS the creation and passage of family violence protection legislation would improve the support for victims of family violence;

AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Social Programs has been firmly requesting the development of a Family Violence Prevention Act since November of 2001, and Members for much longer;

AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has placed great importance on the issue of ending family violence to the point of naming a Minister of family violence;

AND WHEREAS family violence shelters are operating at or near capacity;

AND WHEREAS the Department of Health and Social Services has created the addictions, mental health and family violence strategy which is focussed on healing;

AND WHEREAS family violence protection legislation would improve the tools available for law enforcement agencies to help victims of family violence escape the violence without leaving their home community;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake the necessary work to draft and introduce a Family Violence Prevention Act in the Legislative Assembly by June 2003 for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dent.

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I welcome the Minister of Justice's commitment earlier today to introduce family violence prevention legislation by June and it, in some ways, makes the motion somewhat moot. I think it's also still important for us, as Members of this House, to have the formal motion on record as a statement of our intent to see legislation brought forward.

This has been a long-term process. A couple of years ago, I raised the issue of this type of legislation in the House. At the time, the Premier had named my colleague from Hay River South to be Minister responsible for coordinating the development of an action plan to combat family violence. I asked her about such legislation. She told the House that she agreed that the NWT should have family violence prevention legislation and she said she would work on making sure that it came forward. I wrote to the Minister of Justice to ask him to bring forward such legislation. Minister Antoine was the Minister at the time and he told the House that he saw this type of legislation as a priority. He said he would work to bring such legislation forward by the spring session in 2002.

In the House on February 26, 2002, Minister Miltenberger confirmed the critical nature of this type of legislation and noted that the Members had identified family violence prevention legislation as a priority. He committed to write to the Minister of Justice to push for introduction of the bill.

Then on March 6, 2002, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen, said he was committed to move as fast as possible on this piece of legislation. During that same budget session, he said that preparatory work would be concluded in June 2002.

So, Mr. Speaker, we have a long record of commitments and the one made by the Minister earlier today was the most clear. I look forward to working with the Minister to see this legislation brought forward and passed. He has my personal commitment for cooperation and assistance.

Mr. Speaker, family violence prevention legislation should be just one part of a clearly articulated strategy for responding to and preventing family violence. We know that that sort of legislation alone is not the answer, but it is one key part of the arsenal needed to fight family violence. The Minister talked today about looking at other jurisdictions, but making sure that our legislation works for our residents. That's a good idea. Some jurisdictions like the Yukon have undertaken reviews of their legislation and have identified strengths and weaknesses. We can learn much from our sister territory to the west. The Yukon review found the legislation made a difference, an improvement, by increasing the protections available to victims of violence. The review team found that the rate of use of emergency orders under the act, taking account of relative population, was the highest in Canada among those jurisdictions with similar legislation. Unfortunately, since the rate of domestic violence in the NWT is even higher than in the Yukon, I think we can probably expect similar rates of use here.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has said we will see family violence prevention legislation in June. I thank him again for that commitment. This is important to far too many of our constituents not to move it forward as soon as possible.

As I have already outlined, four Ministers of the government, including the Minister today, have said that we need this kind of legislation. The Minister has committed to bring it forward by June, so I am hoping now that the government will also vote in favour of the motion so that we can unanimously demonstrate our commitment to confront family violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Mr. Braden.

Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have too much to add to the comments made by my colleague, Mr. Dent, who I credit with keeping this issue on the radar screen here and really shaping what we have today. He has really put the pieces together and he deserves our recognition, along with the Minister, Mr. Allen, who has taken on the challenge.

When we were talking abut this on Monday, Mr. Speaker, I related some of the horrific statistics that are pervasive in our society related to family abuse. What impressed me and perhaps in a sense is also depressing, Mr. Speaker, is that this legislation is only going to be one part of a continuum, a whole basket of programs and services that will be needed to really make a difference in the number of incidents of family abuse and in really achieving a marked decrease. It's going to take a long time. We have started this process and hopefully we have started changing the attitudes and willingness of people to confront this issue, to deal with it and really make a difference. So I hope that in going through the process now, the big process of designing this legislation, especially designing its implementation, that this legislature will be signalling that we really do want to make a difference. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Mr. Bell.

Brendan Bell

Brendan Bell Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't take much time. I would just like to reiterate the point that I think that this is simply one tool that is going to help improve the situation and allow for some early intervention and hopefully can prevent a lot of family violence. It isn't, as my colleagues have said, the be all and end all. We know we need more drug and alcohol treatment. That's a critical piece. With that kind of treatment, we could make serious inroads and we know our shelters are too full in the larger communities. One of my colleagues from a smaller community said if you think that's bad, we don't have shelters in many of the smaller communities. That's a very key point. That's another issue that we have to make a real commitment to address. So this is one small piece. It's time for us to move down this road. There are many others to follow. I hope we will take up that task. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make a short comment in favour of this motion. In many ways, the Minister's announcement today that the government will pursue legislation in this area pre-empted debate on this issue, and I think it's still important to note that the introduction and debate of this motion speaks to the importance that this Legislature puts on this very serious issue. Also, there's a lot that can be said from an act on the part of a Legislature to pass a law. When legislation is passed and a law is made to address an issue like family violence protection, it says a lot more than the public statements we've made. I know that everyone here agrees that we have a very serious problem with family violence and we have to do everything we can to mitigate it and address that. Signing a declaration and making public statements is one thing, but using the power and authority of this House and this honourable gathering place to pass a law that says we take a stand on this...In terms of the detail of this legislation, one of the things we allow is that women in situations of family violence will no longer be forced to be out of the House, but that law enforcement and other measures can be put into force, so that the violator and those who are committing violence will have to suffer the consequences more.

So I support the principle of the bill and the effect of the bill and I applaud the government for agreement to come with the legislation. As well, I would like to recognize and commend the Member for Frame Lake for making sure this does not go unattended to, and all the other Members who worked on it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Mr. Delorey.

Paul Delorey

Paul Delorey Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also would like to speak in support of this legislation. I know that we talk about family violence and how we can put posters up in our windows saying we have zero tolerance for family violence, but I think it's important that we take it another step forward and this is a good step forward in this process. We all know that it's not the end, as has been mentioned by a number of Members here. We have situations in the small communities, in all centres, where our shelters are overcrowded, they need more resources, and I am sure with this legislation going forward, it will help all of us to put more attention in that area and make sure that we can do a half decent job of it in support of the legislation. It's a piece of legislation that everyone in this House can be proud of putting their name behind and working towards. So I would like to thank everybody for their willingness to move forward on this piece of legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Mr. Allen.

Roger Allen

Roger Allen Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I feel very humble today to acknowledge the enormous support to push this piece of legislation forward. I want to thank my colleagues from not only this side of the floor, but that side of the floor as well. I think it's important that this Legislature continues to make this a top priority of this government and we assure you that with the unequivocal support of my Cabinet colleagues and the leadership from this side of the House, we will introduce legislation in June and I can confirm that we will commit ourselves to pass this legislation in the life of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have already spoken earlier in the House this week with respect to my support for this legislation being brought in. I would also like to thank the Minister for his response to our request and I would only be repeating what my colleagues have already said if I got into detail on this. I have seconded the motion and have promised and made commitments on numerous occasions when I have spoken at events that were convened by women who work in shelters, frontline workers, that legislation would be passed during the life of this government. So I am happy that it looks like we will be able to go home and report back to our constituents that this is happening and that it will make a significant difference in the lives of victims of family violence. With that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

The Member is requesting a recorded vote. To the motion. Mr. Lafferty.

Leon Lafferty North Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to stand up and say I do support this motion also. This motion can help us keep our families together in the smaller communities and not be forced to go into larger centres for a large span of time. I hope this government will start putting money at the front end for prevention instead of building shelters, and maybe one day we won't need the shelters and we can put more funding into the front end and cut off the problems that arise in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker David Krutko

Question has been called. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favour, please stand.

Recorded Vote