Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I always advocate for my constituents, and, when a constituent brings an issue to me, I always give them the benefit of the doubt, knowing that there are at least two sides to a story. I'll admit, when I've heard issues regarding my constituent's dealings with Child and Family Services, I used to think that perhaps the emotional aspect of the situation made the interaction seem worse than it was. Well, Mr. Speaker, I apologize for that. I've been set straight by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, which just released its audit of the Child and Family Services. It's a follow-up audit to the one performed in 2014, which exposed such poor performance that it demanded to be revisited.

The Office of the Auditor General has concluded, Mr. Speaker, that things have actually gotten worse since 2014 and that it's "deeply concerned" by its findings. I tried to craft a statement with a level of outrage that this situation warrants, but I couldn't. There's no way to adequately express the anger that everyone should be feeling right now. We should all be ashamed, Mr. Speaker, for being part of a system that treats our most vulnerable in this way. If we can't put in the effort to get this right, then what? How bad is it, Mr. Speaker? Here are some of the findings. One-fifth of the time that someone contacted a regional health authority with concerns about the safety of a child, there was no response. Nine out of 10 times, the minimal level of contact with a parent and a child subject to a plan of care was not maintained. There were no systemic background checks on potential guardians. The list goes on and on and on.

After the last audit, the department's response was to introduce complex administrative changes into an already over-burdened and over-bureaucratic system instead of actually assessing whether or not it has the resources to do its job. Spoiler alert, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't. I also have to add, Mr. Speaker, that 95 percent of the children engaged in the system are Aboriginal. Is this what reconciliation looks like to this government, Mr. Speaker? I don't think that the Minister is insensitive to this issue or the departmental staff doesn't care about the children, but, after seeing what happened since 2014, I'm terrified about what the future holds. This is an unacceptable situation, and the Minister and all of us in this House need to act or move aside for those who will. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on October 3, 2018, Rita Betsedea passed away. She was born on September 16, 1962 at old Fort Wrigley, to Baptiste and Alice Betsedea. She was one of 12 children. Growing up, she was daddy's favourite girl. Her favourite times were when her dad came home from trapping with beaver meat full of fat. Family always remembered her little chin just dripping with fat. Her nickname was "Little Doll." She brought a lot of joy to the home. She loved the outdoors and being with her family. At nighttime, she asked her Abba to sit outside. When she was asked why, she would always reply, "I want to look at the stars." As a child, Rita attended residential school at Lapointe Hall in Fort Simpson. She didn't talk much about it. Throughout it all, Rita held her own language and traditional lifestyle.

Her son Keith remembers all the hunting trips Rita came on. He recalls their time on the river as some of the happiest times in their life, with lots of good food, stories, and laughter. Jonathan remembers one particular trip to Willow River, when his Uncle Tony wanted to go for a skidoo ride. Harley, the youngest daughter, begged her mom to let her go out, and off she went. Once they were past the falls, they stopped for a rest. Harley quietly told Jonathan, "Look, there are two moose crossing the river." Tony shot one, and Jonathan got the other. When they got back home, Harley ran into the house and yelled, "They got two moose!" Jonathan said his mom came out and said she was very proud of them and couldn't stop smiling.

Harley remembered her mom as always being "the fun mom." She would play games and play jokes on them. One time, when she was playing tag with the kids, they were all running around and laughing until Rita stepped on a rake just the right way. Next thing, she was screaming, "I raked myself! I raked myself!"

Miranda said her mom was always there for her. No matter what she asked, her mom made it happen. She had a big heart and was always helping people.

She loved her grandchildren with all her heart. She spoiled them all with her love and attention, but would protect them as fiercely a mama bear.

Rita was known and loved far and wide by many. She will be missed deeply by all of her family and friends. Her quick wit and infectious laugh will sadly be missed. She was famous for saying, "Let's dance," and that is how people have chosen to her remember her on this day.

Mr. Speaker, I have been asked to wear this lapel by the family in recognition of her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Masi. Our condolences to the family members, as well as the community. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to recognize representatives of United Way NWT that are here in the gallery. In attendance today, the chair of the United Way NWT, Tracy St. Denis; United Way NWT board member, Matt Spence; also Gayla Thunstrom, the first vice president of the Union of Northern Workers; Frank Walsh; and Jennifer Wright with the Union of Northern Workers, who are partners in United Way NWT.

Also, I would like to recognize three Pages from Yellowknife South who have been here for the four weeks of this session, Ayush Bhanot, Nigel Curtis, Tyson Clarke, and also recognize all of the Pages for all of the good work that they have done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today, I will be tabling the GNWT Disability Action Plan, so I am very pleased to have the following people joining us today from the NWT Disabilities Council: Terry Hawkins, the chair; Cornelius Van Dyke, the vice chair; Kim Tregidgo, the board member from Hay River; Christopher Aitkens, board member from Hay River; Denise McKee, executive director, and thank you all for being here and being so supportive of the work that we are doing to support persons with disabilities. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize a couple of board members of the NWT Disabilities Council from Hay River, Mr. Christopher Aitkens and Ms. Kim Tregidgo. Mr. Aitkens is also the president of the Hay River Soup Kitchen that the Premier mentioned earlier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier on in my Member's statement, I mentioned Ms. Eunice Nasogaluak, who is an elder from Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Speaker, Eunice is married to my relative, the late William Nasogaluak, and seeing her presentation yesterday was actually very uplifting. I just want to thank Eunice for all the hard work that she does within the community and around the region with her culture and traditional knowledge. Keep up the good work, Eunice. Thank you. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize Matt Spence, Tracy St. Denis, Frank Walsh, and Susan Fitzky as constituents from Yellowknife North. Welcome, and thank you for being here.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to recognize Matthew Spence and Tracy St. Denis on their contributions to the North, in their private life, and their career, as well. Mahsi.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a Page from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, April Sangris-Hardisty Beaulieu, and, also, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize our interpreters that are from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, Maro Sundberg and Tommy Unka. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. Staff from the Department of Health and Social Services did visit the community of Fort Liard, as well as Fort Nelson, to meet with residents of Fort Liard, but also staff of the health system in Fort Nelson, to discuss, first off, what services are actually provided in Nelson.

I think there has been some confusion over the years about what capacity Nelson has. They certainly aren't providing all of the services that are offered here in the Northwest Territories, the services that are required by residents of the Northwest Territories, but they certainly offer more than is being provided in Fort Liard. We did reach out to them. We had some discussions about some things that we might be able to do for our residents in Fort Liard, things like mammograms and other diagnostic tests that Fort Nelson may be able to provide for us.

We did meet with the MLA. Myself and staff from the department met with the MLA in September. We agreed to go to Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte to talk to the residents about what we have learned to help us formulate our next steps. We are hoping that we can put in some Memorandums of Agreement on some of those diagnostic tests, but also figure out how we might be able to provide some additional services or, rather, have our residents receive services from Fort Nelson in a way that still fits within the NWT Health and Social Services system.

We have made progress. We are not all the way there, but we are on the right path. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister has kind of answered a lot of my questions that I had here today, but that is great to hear. I am very happy to see that. That is a positive step, and I have to applaud the department and his staff for reaching out to Fort Nelson. We look forward to it.

The Minister talked about a couple of those -- mammograms and, I forget the other one, lab work, but also, with pregnancy, can the Minister explain or provide information if this opportunity is available as well?

There are services that aren't provided in Fort Nelson right now. I am actually not 100 percent sure about pregnancy, but my suggestion would be that having individuals come to the boarding home here in Yellowknife or to services here in Yellowknife or Hay River might be more appropriate. If there were any complications, we can deal with them within this existing system.

If somebody is receiving services in Nelson and there is a complication, they could end up going into the BC system where we wouldn't necessarily have access to health records or history of the individual, which could provide some additional complications. Given that we do bring people in quite a bit early, I am sure we can find ways to support those residents to come to northern locations where appropriate.

I thank the Minister for explaining and clarifying that because it is very important for residents to understand that not all services are going to be available, but some are, like he said, mammograms and lab services.

Can the Minister advise us when they could see potential opportunities for this service to be implemented, going to Fort Nelson?