This is page numbers 4473 - 4520 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 going.

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

Page 4477

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.

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

Page 4478

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Josee Clermont, who is the executive director of College nordique. It's great that we work together and I am looking forward to further partnerships.

I also want to recognize, if they are still up there, we should have a group of grade six students from William McDonald coming to learn about our consensus government, so I'm excited to have them here as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Page 4478

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we are missing anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It's always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgments. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the career of the Reverend Peter Chynoweth who is retiring from active ministry. During 28 years of service with the United Church of Canada, Peter guided the Yellowknife Church to become an affirming ministry, served as president of the Yellowknife Ministerial Association, chaplain for RCMP "G" Division, led monthly worship for residents at Avens, and has been a strong advocate of social justice issues. Please join me in saluting the service and achievements of Peter Chynoweth. Mahsi.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's been about six months since the new fiscal year and the budget has been passed. I would like to ask the Minister of Lands some questions about the status of the equity lease issues. Can the Minister advise if the positions have been filled and the location of where the staff is? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Lands.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise that three land specialist positions have been filled or about to be filled, one in Inuvik, one in Fort Simpson starting November 5, 2018, and the third will be starting in North Slave on November 13, 2018. Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Because, if it was passed, it would be five positions, can the Minister advise us when these other positions will be filled and location where these positions are supposed to be located?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

The two remaining positions are in Fort Smith. I'm not certain when they will be filled, but we will certainly advise the Member opposite.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I appreciate that from the Minister. I'm hoping these positions can get filled sooner than later. Has the department completed or have they developed a training plan for the staff? Can the Minister advise us of what that training plan is?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes, Mr. Speaker, the current lands specialist has been involved in training opportunities to help facilitate the work in the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions, which of course are settled regions. We are going to continue to provide training and support as we move forward. I will again keep the Member advised as to the hires that we are hoping to make and also the training.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I greatly appreciate the Minister's answer and informing us as we move forward.

During the process, we talked about the positions, that you have to be in Fort Smith and doing a training in there. Is this the process for doing the training, or has the department come up with a newer way of doing it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I'm not certain as to the exact nature of the training, but we could certainly look into that. As I have mentioned, we have hired somebody in the Inuvik office, and we are starting to deal with the equity leases in that region. Of course, as I have mentioned, there are 245 approximately equity leases to deal with, so there's a large number. Those are private-equity leases. There are similar, as I understand, from the department, leases between departments, but the ones that we are dealing with and we are concerned about are the private-equity leases.

Certainly, there will be training. Each of these or many of these leases do seem to be slightly different and moving forward, will depend on the terms of these leases. I will certainly keep the Member opposite advised as to hires as they take place and also the nature of the training given to these people. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Question 455-18(3): Resources for Child and Family Services
Oral Questions

October 26th, 2018

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I said in my statement yesterday on the Auditor General's report on Child and Family Services, the lack of staff and resources is a theme that runs through that report. This lack of resources is jeopardizing the safety of children and care. The Minister has committed to hiring more staff. Will he work with the Finance Minister to bring forward a supplementary appropriation before the end of this sitting? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have gone through the business planning process. We are proposing the increase of positions in this area. In the meantime, I have directed the department to begin staffing in anticipation of the passage of those positions so that we can hit the ground running today to start filling those positions. We have tools and mechanisms available to us, double filling positions, anticipatory hiring, eligibility list. We are doing that work now. I will have a discussion with the Minister, I'm happy to do that, about whether or not we can expedite that given the crisis that is in front of us.

As a note, in response to our internal audit that was completed in May, we have actually moved forward with re-profiling some positions and the establishment of positions within the authority. For instance, we have established seven foster-parent coordinator positions, and we have filled four of them already. We have already started taking action, based on our audit, and our audit was reconfirmed by the Auditor General. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Minister for that response. Mr. Speaker, it's hard to recruit and retain social workers because the work is so grueling. I'm not surprised that there are many vacant positions. What I would like to know from the Minister is what he is doing to strengthen the recruitment and retention of social workers.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I have actually been having conversations with some of our front-line staff to try to get a determination as to some of the frustrations they feel. Part of the frustration they feel is that, with the implementation of Building Stronger Families, they were asked to do an awful lot, both provide their duties and services they did prior to implementation but also learn and test an entire new system. It has made them a little thin. They have said they want more training. They have said they want better contact and involvement in making decisions. They want to be able to know that their voices are heard.

We have actually actioned every one of the issues that they have raised, following up on our May 2017 audit, and we have already started to see some improvements. I had a conversation with a couple of them last week who said they haven't felt this supported since pre-implementation of Building Stronger Families. They are excited by the direction we are going and excited by the direction we are taking.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General found, as the Minister has said, that staff is overburdened with administrative work. The Minister's decision to engage in a system-wide accreditation exercise next year is going to increase that burden substantially at a time when the focus needs to be on building relationships with children and families. Will the Minister consider deferring this audit for at least a year?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

This audit isn't an audit of Social Services or Child and Family Services. This is an audit of the entire Health and Social Services system. It is an accreditation, rather, of the entire Health and Social Services system. It needs to be done. We will certainly work closely with the CFS division to make sure that the burden placed on them is as low as possible. We will bring in extra staff if we need to, to help them through this time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a time when Social Services was a stand-alone department within the GNWT. It is my impression that since the current department was created many years ago, that Child and Family Services has played second fiddle to the health side of the department. I would say that this approach to the accreditation reveals that, as well. Is it time to divide the department so that each segment gets the attention it deserves? Thank you.