Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the rate of reported spousal assaults in the Northwest Territories is one of the highest in the country, second only to Nunavut, measuring in at nine to 12 times the provincial average. Members of this Assembly recognize that fact as a crisis. In our priorities document before we created the mandate we committed to taking action on the crisis of family and community violence. When the mandate was developed we made a commitment to continue to support healing programs for men who use violence in intimate relationships, such as a New Day Healing Program. Today I'd like to talk a bit about the New Day Healing Program. Through 2015 this program for men who use violence saw 138 clients made up of 65 new male clients on a one-on-one basis, 28 female clients and 48 clients in group therapy at the North Slave Correctional Centre.
From January to September of this year they saw a total of 195 clients that have already been seen to date; 71 male clients, 28 female partners who sought help and safety planning and 89 clients at the correctional centre. This, combined with 31 repeat clients from the original program, makes for a total of 348 clients served by only two staff over a period of two and a half years. This program is the only program in the Northwest Territories that allows for self-referrals. People do not have to get arrested, be incarcerated, or be in a medical crisis to get service. They're the only program that employs Indigenous counsellors, northern Indigenous students, elders and traditional healers and uses traditional healing programs. They deliver group and individual therapy, as well as do presentations to community meetings with other service providers and do group therapy in communities with men and boys at risk of perpetrating abuse. They've been recognized by the Public Health Agency of Canada Aboriginal Best Practices Program, and, as this government has stated previously, this program is in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action to address residential school trauma. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted