Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer, and that's great to hear there's a 1-8-7-7 number. When the Minister talked about the contact being duty officer in Yellowknife, was this always the practice to have the duty office in Yellowknife deal with it, or was it a regional office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Centralizing the functions of the duty manager resulted in the department saving over a quarter million dollars by identifying more effective and cost-saving practices for answering calls received afterhours.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I tabled some correspondence for the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce that advocates to decrease the small business tax rates to two per cent, and the larger business tax rate by one per cent, which would give the Northwest Territories the lowest and most competitive tax rates for businesses in Canada. The Minister of Finance indicated he supports this recommendation.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as part of our mandate, I believe the support to small businesses was part of the 18thLegislative Assembly's mandate, and it is something that we would have to consider. We're going through an exercise and a budget session right now. We will be taking part in our business planning process in September, and we know it is part of the mandate. It is a concern of many of the Members in this Assembly, so as we continue to go forward, we will explore the possibility.

I can say that we have probably about 50 per cent of our small business is in the Northwest Territories, I believe, don't pay any tax at all, but having said that, recognizing that it is in the mandate and a priority of many of the Members, it's something that we would have to consider.

Mr. Speaker, I can't make that commitment here as to what's going to be in the next budget without going through the budget planning process, and as part of that process is the business planning process in September, which we take part in along with the Regular Members. So I'm sure the issue will be raised at the time, and it's something that we can determine then, if it's financially viable to include into next year's budget cycle.

Mr. Speaker, certainly, we on this side of the House can advocate for things, but the department needs to drive the bus. Will the department be bringing forward in their next business plan a tax cut for small businesses?

I appreciate the Member letting the department drive the bus when it's convenient for Members on the other side. We will work with the Members as we have committed to do, and bring in a lot of the issues in the mandate forward. There's times where we try being erased to the bottom with the other jurisdictions across the country as far as business tax go, and in our case, because of the high cost of delivering programs and services up here, it gets to be a little unaffordable.

I have made the commitment to work with Members opposite when we go through our business planning process, and as we develop our Main Estimates for next year.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, year on year, corporate tax revenue has shrunk. I think that sends a signal that we are losing investment. Measures like this send a clear signal that the North is open for business, and we aren't drawing much from our small tax, our small taxes anyway. It's a sacrifice that will result in economic growth. It's supported by many in the Northwest Territories, including our business community. I'd like the Minister to give a firmer commitment that it will be in the business plan for the fall sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there's a number of reasons why business is not as lively across the Northwest Territories as it usually is. Part of it is because of lack of investment, and what we're trying to do going through the exercise that we're going through now is to have more money that we can invest into more opportunities for our businesses to take advantage of some of the money that we will make available.

Again, it is an issue that needs further discussion, and I have committed to being a part of those discussions with the Members across the floor, and with my Cabinet colleagues as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The most recent anti-violence campaign in the NWT was called What Will It Take. It was aimed at changes by standard responses to violence against women. Can the Health and Social Services Minister report on what that campaign accomplished, including how many people took the workshops and where they were offered? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has indicated, the campaign was intended to break down some of the myths and stigma that exist around family violence and create awareness. The program has had a number of workshops delivered across the Northwest Territories. In 2015-2016, as an example, there were 26 workshops that took place. Twelve of those were facilitated by the Status of Women with 146 participants in communities across the Northwest Territories. We also had other facilitators providing the workshop. FOXY facilitated 14 sessions for youth across the Northwest Territories. I don't have the participation numbers for the number of people who attended the FOXY sessions, but I will get that information and share it with the Member and committee.

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister have an evaluation of this campaign that he could share with the House, other than strictly relying on participation numbers?

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Department of Health and Social Services worked with the Program Review Office to develop a comprehensive evaluation of framework for the What Will It Take campaign. Based on this frame work, the new participation feedback forms are being developed, and they will be completed in time to provide to participants during the 2016-17 delivery of What Will It Take, and that will help us get the information and evaluate the effectiveness of the program long-term.

Thank you to the Minister. It's good to hear that these plans are in place and going forward. How does the Minister plan to follow up the What Will It Take campaign, or alternatively, can he advise us how long this campaign will run for?

Mr. Speaker, the department has $82,000 in annual funding, and ongoing funding which was available to implement What Will It Take training across the Northwest Territories. We're looking at branching out and launching a broader media campaign to create awareness of the program, but also to start working to break down some of the other myths that exist around family violence.

We have been attending the community healthy living fairs that have been taking part in the Northwest Territories and we’ve been promoting What Will It Take. We intend to keep running this program. How it looks in the future will depend completely on the evaluations and the effectiveness, which we'll be in a better position to assess once the questionnaires have come in after the 2016-17 delivery of the What Will It Take campaign.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you to the Minister for that. My last question is in reference to the change to the strategy, sorry, Change the Story strategy which I referenced in my statement. What would it take for the Minister to create a territorial primary prevention strategy on violence against women?