This is page numbers 275 - 296 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 work.

Topics

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to bring to light a serious issue that affects residents of Hay River and many other communities. The Family Support Centre in Hay River has been serving the Northwest Territories for nearly 30 years; it provides a safe and supportive place for women and their children who are fleeing abusive and potentially failed relationships. Despite offering an essential service, the GNWT provides funding that is inadequate even in relation to other shelters in the territory. The mandate of this government states in plain language that we will take action on the crisis of family and community violence. There is no better to start than at the ground level. We must ensure that our shelters are funded through the work that is needed. The Family Support Centre doesn't just serve Hay River; it serves a dozen communities spanning the ridings of six MLAs. Women are often brought to the shelter by police after being battered and victimized. The RCMP will take the woman's picture in the driveway and leave her at the doorstep of the shelter. Often she has young children in tow. In evenings and on weekends the centre can only afford one scheduled employee. This means that in addition to caring for up to ten women and children already at the shelter the employee must also attend to a family still reeling from a recent trauma. Staff are contending with ever increasing levels of crisis management related to family violence, mental health, addictions, health problems, and child protection. Admissions have increased nearly five-fold in this past year alone. Despite that, the centre has not had an increase in core funding in three years. This means that the centre can't attract and retain staff with the experience and training to meet the needs of the victims. The centre is also in constant need of repair. The roof has been leaking for three years causing extensive damage and making one space unusable. The sprinkler system is nearing the end of its life and is in need of replacement. In addition, the space is just too small to accommodate all the needs. There isn't even an indoor play area save for a three foot by three foot space in the living room. On top of all this the government stopped paying the centre's utilities in August 2015 which adds an additional expense of at least $18,000 per year to the centre's already strained budgets. The wraparound services needed to help the victims are also lacking. Counselling service is needed within 24 hours of arriving, yet the victims sometimes have to wait up to four weeks. Victims are often forced back into abusive relationships. My time is running out, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was speaking of the wraparound services and up to four-week waiting times to receive counselling. In addition, victims are often forced to return to abusive relationships because of homelessness, poverty, problems securing housing, employment, and lack of daycare. Mr. Speaker, obviously two and a half minutes is not enough time to address all these issues, but I just want to make sure that this government and the public are aware of this dire situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 174 days ago we sat in this Chamber and listened to the pitches of the two men who wanted to become Premier. A week later we elected Mr. McLeod to an unprecedented second term. Today I want to reflect on what the Premier promised during the Territorial Leadership Committee and what he has delivered. The November election highlighted the electorate's desire for change, which Mr. McLeod acknowledged. He said people expect more effective and transparent decision-making and less politics. I agree, but I don't think we're there yet. Mr. McLeod promised a “more cooperative approach with new mechanisms to enable greater input from Regular MLAs, possibly joint committees on critical issues such as climate change and finally family violence.” Mr. Speaker, there are no new mechanisms nor joint committees.

The Premier did make good on his promise to appoint a Minister responsible for transparency and democratic engagement, but his pledge to make the government more visible and accessible has not lived up to expectations. Take the budget consultation process. Residents were invited to send comments by e-mail. Unsurprisingly, few took up this challenge. A second consultation process has been launched but without adequate promotion. On the upside, the Premier has made good a promise to take Cabinet to different regions of the NWT and he's had a couple of open houses as well. Mr. McLeod said that he wanted to address seniors' concerns about the continuum of care, extended health benefits, and the availability of seniors' housing. The government has the long-term care bed study in hand. We are ready to hear how the Premier is going to lead the way to address those needs. People who work with seniors in long-term care tell me that the bed shortage crisis is here already; we can't delay implementing solutions. Mr. Speaker, Mr. McLeod also made a commitment to insulate our communities and residents from the ups and downs of resource industries by supporting local businesses. I agree with this goal wholeheartedly but I have yet to see any action on this point. The long-awaited agriculture strategy promised during Mr. McLeod's first term is still long awaited. Agriculture is a small but fast growing sector of our economy, but it's a poor cousin in terms of the Premier's attention to the resource extraction industry.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the government-to-government relationship with Aboriginal governments. Mr. McLeod spoke about the need to complete land use plans in every region and mine claims where they don't currently exist. I'm not aware of any progress on either of these points. In fact, the Premier promised to meet with the Dehcho First Nations within his first 90 days in office and present a new offer. Neither has happened. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier has many issues and portfolios to stay on top of, but 174 days into this 18th Assembly the Premier is less the change agent he promised and instead is delivering more business as usual. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my constituent and my constituent assistant Anne Peters. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Nahendeh.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

May 31st, 2016

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Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Brenda Morrow and her daughter Victoria, and I'm not going to say your last name because my face will turn red because I can't say it right, Kim Doyle, and Nicole Latour. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Todd Slack and Kelly Cumming for attending. I just want to also welcome other constituents of the riding of Yellowknife North that I may have missed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure today to acknowledge and thank some of the leaders of our seniors community here, in the Northwest Territories, particularly Merlyn Williams, the president of Yellowknife Seniors' Society, Stephen Jackson who is the CEO of Avens, and Kim Doyle who is the executive director of the Baker Centre. I'd also like to acknowledge a very active senior in our community and a driving force behind many things that happen here, Yvonne Quick. As well, I'd like to acknowledge my constituents Christina Poppa and Nicole Latour, and Jack Bourassa from the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Member for Deh Cho.

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Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my constituency assistant Ms. Trisha Landry and welcome her to the Legislative Assembly. Also, at the same time, other constituency assistants that might be in the gallery, plus the members of the public. Mahsi.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Yellowknife South.

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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize from Yellowknife South, Mr. Jack Bourassa. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Member for Thebacha.

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Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to acknowledge two Pages that will be assisting us this week from Fort Smith: Eleanor McMillan and Hanna Nickerson who have travelled here with their chaperone, Tracy Hutton who I'd also like to acknowledge. Finally, I'd also like to acknowledge my wife Ann who is in the gallery. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Great Slave.

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Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize a couple of residents from the Great Slave riding. They've already been recognized but I'm going to recognize them again: Mr. Stephen Jackson who is the CEO at Avens, Merlyn Williams who is the president of the Yellowknife Seniors' Society, and Ms. Yvonne Quick. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Members, colleagues, I'd like to direct your attention to the presence of visitors in our gallery today. From our Elections NWT office we have Nicole Latour, chief electoral officer, here with us today. Welcome. Also Adrienne Cartwright, communications and research officer, I'd like to welcome you. Also colleagues, I'd like to draw your attention to my former classmate from Sir John Franklin, Akaitcho Hall, Brenda Morrow, that's here with us. Welcome. Masi for being with us. If we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. It's always great to have an audience in the gallery.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier, the Honourable Bob McLeod. I'll follow up on the statement I just made regarding Mr. McLeod's progress on promises made during his candidacy speech. Mr. McLeod promised “a more cooperative approach with new mechanism to enable greater input from Regular MLAs, possibly in the form of joint committees, pardon me, on critical issues such as climate change and family violence.” I notice that the Premier has made high profile statements of opposition on carbon tax without the Assembly's sanction on this position, so what is the status of these special joint committees where key climate change policies such as carbon tax could be decided? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The honourable Premier.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I very much appreciate the Member keeping a very close tab on my record. Perhaps she can serve as my campaign manager the next time around. We have accomplished quite a great deal. I'm very glad that she was able to lay out what we have accomplished. I think the Member has to realize that it's not just one person that makes things happen in this Legislative Assembly. It's a consensus government and we all have to work together and for her to pin the tail on the donkey and say I'm the only one that can make it happen I think is being very naive. We all work together to accomplish a lot of these things and certainly we've already made progress on terms of reference for a joint cabinet standing committee on Aboriginal relations. We expect to make further progress on these other joint committees. I did participate at the call of the Prime Minister of Canada in the First Ministers meeting on climate change. They set up a process for the four working groups that will be working over six months, and that they will be reporting in the fall so that they would be able to fulfill their commitments made under the COP21. It is our expectation that we will be involving Members of this House as well as other constituents and stakeholders throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.