Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell us exactly how can communities prevent children from being taken away from their communities and working with the families and the children before it gets to this stage where you have to apprehend?

Thank you. If the Member could provide me with more information on what he said that’s within my budget that I should re-look at, I’d be happy to do that.

On page 8-30 of the budget under child services, intervention services, $858,000. That is something we can work with. I’d like to ask the Minister, can you seriously consider reprofiling these dollars and put it in the area of prevention and intervention?

The department already spends a lot of money and effort on prevention and the recommendations suggest that we must expend that, which we, in principle, agree with, we need to come up with the resources. But I will have to look at the section that the Member is referring to

because I am certain that we have every cent of that accounted for. So if we’re going to talk about reprofiling that, we need to have the full scope of the information so we know exactly what we’re changing.

I’m sure as we go through debating our budget in the next couple of days we will have a chance to do that, but I’d be happy to engage with the Members on the other side about what choices we’re prepared to make, because without knowing even all of the details, I am certain that every cent of that is spoken for and there will be repercussions. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, it’s clear that it seems like the health and social services boards are block funded in regard to how these dollars are being expended and what we heard out in the field is that a lot of these core services are not being prevented in all communities in the Northwest Territories and that’s what the recommendation is asking for. So would you consider re-profiling these dollars, directly expend them in the communities and not send them to the health and social services authorities, and spend it where it really would make a difference? Thank you.

Thank you. I will undertake to look at that, but I believe that all of the Members on the other side would like to know exactly where that money is being spent before we make a decision about reprofiling them. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my statement I presented my perception of the Foundation for Change strategic document that the department is currently using. So my first question to the Minister today is to ask whether or not she can confirm that I’ve understood it correctly and can she define for me and for the people listening the purpose of the Foundation for Change? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Foundation for Change is a pretty straightforward, clearly written document about what the department is proposing to realign the way we deliver our services and what we are focusing on. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that over the three and a half years I’ve

been here working with MLA Bisaro, she has an insatiable appetite for details. So instead of making a broad statement about lack of information, if the Member could tell me exactly what detail she is looking for, I’d be more than happy to provide her with the details she needs. Thank you.

To the Minister, I like to think that my insatiable appetite for detail enables me to do my job properly.

As to the detail that the Minister is asking that I want, I think I explained in my statement that the Foundation for Change document, to me, has objectives and it has no detail on how those objectives will be achieved. About a month ago, Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Social Programs met with the Minister to discuss the document. We asked for that kind of detail, we asked for the actions, we asked for an evaluation plan to flesh out the Foundation for Change document. Unless those things came today, Mr. Speaker, I haven’t seen them, the committee hasn’t got it. So I’d like to ask the Minister when Members can expect to receive the Foundation for Change update information that was promised to us a month ago. Thank you.

I don’t believe that was a month ago. I think it was January 14

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or 19

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. We

are working on the details the Member asked for and it’s in my office, it’s about 50 pages long. I’d be happy to get the document to the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. I hope that we will see it sooner rather than later. If it’s in her office, I guess that means sooner.

To the Minister: if this is a strategic document and it guides the department, I would think that it should be reactive to new info and it should be a living and breathing document. So I’d like to ask the Minister what actions identified under the Foundation for Change document, the actions which presumably are on her desk, deal with recommendations from the Child and Family Services Act review report?

The three pillars of Foundation for Change are wellness, accessibility and sustainability. There is a section in Foundation for Change about working to support children, to enhance services for children, and as I said in my Minister’s statement on Friday, we support the direction and the general spirit and intent of the standing committee report on the review because it’s very much in line with what our department’s goals are under Foundation for Change. I see no gaps there and it’s very much in line. We are, I believe, moving in the same direction.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I have to take from the Minister’s answer that there are no specific recommendations from the Child and Family Services Act review which are dealt with in the Foundation for Change. I asked about actions. I didn’t ask about intent and I didn’t ask about direction.

My last question to the Minister is: I would like to know whether the Foundation for Change document has been re-evaluated and/or updated in light of the Child and Family Services Act report. Does it reflect the recommendations in the report, and, if not, will it be updated?

The Foundation for Change is an action plan that requires direction and intent and spirit. I say again, Children and Family Services Act review of the standing committee we agree with the recommendations. We support the recommendations. We have agreed to implement 61 out of 73 recommendations. The 10 that we’re not able to, the exact way that the committee has recommended, we say in our reply how we are going to go about them.

As I said, I realize it’s not the answer that the Member is looking for, but we see nothing in the recommendations from the report that’s not in line with what the department wants to do and what the Foundation for Change action plan has to say. I believe in that way we are in harmony about what we need to do for the benefit of the children and families in the Territories.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As Members know, the transfer of the positions back to NWT Housing Corporation on the Public Housing Rental Subsidy has been active. As a result, there has been a loss of administration dollars within our Department of ECE. ECE is required to reduce the number of client services offices across the Northwest Territories. Those individuals were also handling the case of public

subsidy units, public housing rental subsidy area, and then at the same time the client services officers were responsible for income security. Now the responsibility is with NWT Housing Corporation so we had to downsize the client services officers.

Can the Minister advise me if there are other positions of a client services officer nature that were filled within the South Slave region?

Yes, there have been other positions such as client services officers in a number of communities across the Northwest Territories that fill similar positions. Full-time/part-time employment status is determined also on the clientele caseloads.