Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the 16^th Legislative Assembly I participated on a committee that did a review of the implementation and delivery of child and family services in the Northwest Territories. With the chair, who at the time was the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, we travelled throughout the Northwest Territories. We also travelled to many other jurisdictions and we talked to professionals about these services. One of the things that came up on a regular basis was the child advocate. We met with the child advocate in Alberta and we talked about the role of an advocate.

At that time the committee, based on their discussions, did not recommend an advocate, but rather in recommendation 25 of the report they recommended some changes to the legislation that would allow a child to have some representation, and that could have been a legal professional, extended family, a member of the parents' band council. There was also a second recommendation, recommendation 26, to establish a mechanism to ensure that every child's voice is heard and that the child understands what is happening to them at every level of the child welfare system. Those recommendations were accepted and enacted. There were changes to the Child and Family Services Act that allowed individuals to be there as an advocate for them. It wasn't a child advocate as the Member is describing, but we also moved forward in the Department of Justice and established the Office of the Children's Lawyer in 2011-2012 to allow for children to be appointed a lawyer in certain child protection issues.

I recognize that a children's lawyer is not a child's advocate, but when it comes to a child who has access to the legal system, they provide those types of services. So it doesn't get every child, as the Member is describing, but it certainly touches those who are engaged in the court system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.