Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a serious matter before us today, and I do not approach it lightly. Since we became colleagues in the 18th Assembly, the Member for Great Slave has been responsive and supportive to me as an MLA. I have been able to work with him on concerns for my constituents at all hours of the day, and I greatly appreciate that as well as the good work that he has done for his own constituents. By its very nature, the Standing Committee on Social Development, which I chair, works very closely with the Member in his roles as the Minister of Health and Social Services. Last year, we even travelled together, exploring ways to improve addiction treatment in the NWT.
However, this is not about a personal relationship with the Member. The recent report from the office of the Auditor General, or the OAG, has revealed terrible truths about the treatment of children and young people who are under the care of the government. Even more troubling, these problems are not new. Where the Department of Health and Social Services should have been making strides since the OAG 2014 report, performance has instead largely worsened. It is clear that the status quo is not working.
Standing up to move this motion today is difficult, Mr. Speaker. It's not personal, but it's not something I enjoy, but something from the report really stuck with me. OAG wrote that, when Child and Family Services intervenes on a child's behalf, especially when a child is taken into care, the department "becomes in essence the parent." Think about that for a minute. This is an awesome responsibility. We need to do it justice.
This motion is not about what we are hearing from our residents. It's about the needs of our most vulnerable people, and it is about what's good for the territories. It's about accountability for this government's legal responsibilities. Mr. Speaker, the OAG findings were devastating. Being respectful of time, I will let just a handful speak for themselves.
A young person went missing; staff could not figure out who was responsible for finding them.
In 95 percent of the files reviewed, the children are Indigenous, meaning Indigenous children are disproportionately affected by performance failures.
Children were placed under permanent guardianship agreements without screening. One of these children was later assaulted and has been moved to another home, and again without screening. These findings are so serious that the auditors interrupted their work to notify the department.
A new tool was introduced to guide decision making on children in care, but the experts who designed it disagreed with one in every two decisions NWT staff made. Staff turnover and chronic understaffing have disrupted long-term planning and contribute to burnout, and the employees are doing their best.
An assistant director was appointed to improve accountability after the 2014 audit; they weren't trained, weren't adequately supervised, and in some cases, didn't even have access to the Child and Family Services information system.
In considering the motion before us today, what we have to confront is that the problem putting NWT children in care, at least at risk, are problems within the department itself. We know from the OAG reports that the department committed to make critical changes to Children and Family Services, and that these changes were not made. I have also heard from residents and from fellow Members that, despite major changes to the Child and Family Services Act, the legislation isn't what we need it to be, and it needs more work to properly suit northern communities.
All this says to me is that the chain of accountability is broken. Regular Members have repeatedly showed that they are interested in this work. The Standing Committee on Social Development has pursued performance issues in Child and Family Services for the past two years. Why weren't we made aware of the seriousness of these issues until the OAG issued its report?
Back in 2017 when the committee pushed for more information about internal auditing, we found that the department struggled with a broken audit tool. We were told that the data was unusable. New action plans and new systems followed, but we didn't see meaningful change. An annual report for Child and Family Services provided limited information.
Now, the most recent report calls for "further analysis to determine the issues that are leading to the lack of compliance." With respect, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada has already done that analysis. The time for analysis has long passed. What we need now is leadership, action, and the immediate dedication and resources; not further studies, and not more action plans. In fact, less talk, more action is exactly what committee recommended 21 months ago, and yet here we are today.
Another area of Health and Social Services' portfolio also comes into play. For example, the OAG reports that 80 percent of the reviewed files pointed to drugs and alcohol issues as the risk factor; and that domestic violence put children at risk in 50 percent of the files reviewed. This tells me that, to help NWT children in care, we need targeted support to deal with addictions and to reduce violence against women and children. Most of these files are that. Most of these files also fall under the Minister's stewardship.
This is my challenge. This is a source of Regular Members and residents' frustration. We are just not seeing meaningful progress on these incredible important files. I know that several of my colleagues have planned to speak on this motion, so I will wrap up my remarks by acknowledging that this is a complex and difficult file and a heavy responsibility for a Member to carry, but, Mr. Speaker, that simply highlights how serious this action is needed. That's what I want this motion to convey. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.