Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, October 5th to 9th , was
Family Violence Awareness Week. Family violence is all too prevalent in the NWT. Our territory ranks number two in Canada for incidences of family violence per capita, second only to Nunavut. This is
not a statistic where we want to be in the top 10, Mr. Speaker.
Thankfully, we have dedicated organizations and individuals who help those of us who are touched by family violence. The Coalition Against Family Violence is one such organization. The coalition is comprised of 17 different non-government organizations and government departments, and it was established in 1999 to help residents affected by family violence and to increase the awareness of family violence in the NWT.
One of the core members of the coalition is the Yellowknife YWCA. Amongst its many programs, the Y offers shelter to victims of family violence through Alison McAteer House, the only shelter facility in Yellowknife for victims of family violence.
The GNWT does its part to further the work of the coalition. Funding and staff support is provided by four of our departments: the Executive; Health and Social Services; Education, Culture and Employment; and Justice.
A major accomplishment of the coalition was the development of the Protection Against Family Violence Act, which came into force on April 1, 2005. A year and a half after that act was first introduced, there were 222 emergency protection orders requested and those came from 22 NWT communities. As well, other provinces in Canada have used the NWT Act as a blueprint to help develop their own acts.
The NWT Action Plan on Family Violence, titled A Framework for Action, was developed by the coalition in 2004 and in June of 2007, the GNWT introduced funding for the NWT Action Plan on Family Violence, phase two. Initial activities for phase two were programs for children who witnessed violence, enhanced training for shelter workers, and the hosting of a territorial conference to identify best approaches in implementing family violence protection.
Implementation of phase two of the action plan is ongoing. An updated list of actions is scheduled for implementation beginning this year, I think. I expect the coalition will again produce great results as they did with phase one.
Although we have organizations like the Coalition Against Family Violence who work hard on our behalf, responsibility for the reduction and elimination of family violence rests with every one of us as NWT residents. We must each accept that responsibility and ensure that our actions show that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.