Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The issue of what we term as "elder abuse" has been going on for years. It seems that there is no end in sight. That is, if we can actually do something about the situation the elders are facing regarding elder abuse, whether it be financial or caregiving. My question to the Minister responsible is: can she provide the resources required to stop this elder abuse, and I term it as a pandemic? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Seniors.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Elder abuse is a real and frightening problem in our territory. We are very concerned about it; all of us are concerned about it. What to do about it is not as easy as putting money into a program. It is a set of attitudes that people have towards elders, in which they are neglected and exploited, as the Member said in his statement. We have been having discussions about whether we could strengthen our regulatory environment around elder abuse so there are real consequences for failing to protect elders and for taking advantage of them. At the moment, what we're doing is all of the run-up steps of a jurisdictional scan and whether we need regulation change or legislation change. In this work, we're working with the NWT Seniors' Society, who are the lead organization on the Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults. We are working with them on the potential to provide regulation and/or legislative change which would provide for real consequences for people who are engaged in elder abuse. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for that and the steps that the NWT Seniors' Society is taking, but that society, I rarely hear of them in my community. I was speaking with an elder in my community. They were stating that there was a meeting last fall in Fort Providence, an elder abuse awareness session, but there were no elders in attendance, especially the ones being abused financially and mentally. No one even went out of their way to gather them up or, at the very least, have sessions with them one-on-one at the senior's home or another location. Can the Minister responsible for Seniors provide resources to ensure that every elder is interviewed in total confidence regarding elder abuse?

As I mentioned, the NWT Seniors' Society is the lead on the Network to Prevent the Abuse of Older Adults, and they offer a number of workshops called Creating Safer Communities for Older Adults throughout the NWT. The community of Fort Providence invited the NWT Seniors' Society to present this workshop in September of 2020. The workshop was attended by five elders, I'm told; a home support worker; a justice worker; and the elder coordinator. Both the chief and the RCMP also attended part of the workshop. What they tried to do in these workshops is emerge with a plan for how they are going to address the specific elder abuse that exists in their community, and it's my understanding that that plan is now in development and that it will be taken back for the elders to review to ensure that it is meeting their needs. That's the plan for Fort Providence.

Thank you for that. I know I keep hearing the NWT Seniors' Society. I believe the government puts money towards their organization. Like I mentioned, I don't know how much involvement they have with many of our seniors in the small communities. We never see representatives in those communities. There are serious problems here. I have been talking to people in my community this past week, and there are people who work on the ground with them. They have serious reservations about what anybody is actually doing to help the seniors because they are facing them almost on a daily basis, and they don't know where to go or who to turn to to help them address these issues of elder abuse, especially the finances and everything because everything is getting more complex, now. People are starting to set up e-transfers and stuff like this and those kinds of mechanisms and withdrawing. That's the stuff I'm starting to hear, and it's almost like we need someone. I'm just wondering if the Minister can provide an advocate or an official position in the communities to assist elders to combat this elder abuse syndrome.

As I say, the department has been funding the NWT Seniors' Society to provide these workshops, and those are ongoing. I have to tell you that elder abuse is like intimate partner violence in that the victims are often shamed, not willing to come forward to say that they have been taken advantage of. It can be difficult to have victims of violence come forward and say that they are, in fact, victims of violence, let alone to then reach out for help. One of the things that we've been doing with our health staff is to train them to look for signs of elder abuse and to support seniors and elders to access all those same services that we provide in the case of intimate partner violence. That would include family violence shelters, court orders, emergency protection orders, social worker assistance, restorative justice, and counselling. All of those things are available to elders to cope with their situation.

The bottom line here, as it is with intimate partner violence, is that we need to change attitudes, that we value our elders. We're not just talking about it, but we are walking that talk in saying that we value our elders and that we won't put up with exploitation and neglect.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's replies that the NWT Seniors' Society is looking to address the situation and that it's not an easy fix. That's why I ask if we can get someone to go out and actually interview the elders with a translator or one of the caregivers because I understand that social services has been approached in my community and they refused to assist in this regard because they are dealing mostly with child and family services, that is, taking children away from families, but they refused to help in any regard. We've got two positions like that in my community, and we've got nobody there to advocate for the seniors in the small communities. This is a serious issue, and I would like to have some resources into our communities to assist in interviewing the elders. Let's make a positive step forward in trying to address this issue. I would really appreciate that. Mahsi.

I am shocked that social workers have refused to provide service to elders who are experiencing different forms of abuse. That's certainly something that I want to follow up. There are services available now. For example, the Office of the Public Guardian is a place that elders can go to get services to protect them and their decision-making ability. That exists only in Yellowknife, but it is possible to make a call to the Office of the Public Guardian and ask them for help. We have, in Yellowknife and somewhere in the Deh Cho, adult social workers. Social workers perform a variety of functions not only limited to children. There are a couple of things that I am going to follow up to assist the Member in understanding what available help there is in his community. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take advantage of the Minister being responsible for both ECE and Justice and, as well, make him answer a few questions that his colleague, the Minister of Finance, may have input on. My first question is: what is the Minister doing to work with local organizations, such as BACupNorth, in addressing systemic racism, not only in the public service, but also in the criminal justice system across our territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a meeting scheduled with BACupNorth. It has been on the books for some time. There were some issues, I think, finding a time that worked for everyone. That is happening on March 15^th. We have our community justice committees, which support communities to develop alternatives to the criminal justice system, such as diversion programs. We also have, what I set as the Minister, annual policing priorities. I just recently sent out letters to the Indigenous governments to find out what their priorities are so that we can incorporate those. Those are some of the things that we do to work with communities and organizations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Growing up in western Canada, I never knew anything about Black history or the history of African-Canadians in our country until, as an adult, I went to Halifax and first heard of Africville. It has come to my attention that literature around Black history is all but absent in our school curriculums and systems. What is the Minister doing to change this in our educational institutions in the North?

I had a similar experience as the Member. We didn't really learn Black history in school here in the territory. Right now, the NWT grade 5 social studies curriculum introduces students to the experiences of the Black population in Nova Scotia, both historically and today. Students are given opportunities to examine and question social reality through critiques of media, public policy decisions, foreign policy choices, newspapers, historical accounts, and school life itself.

ECE agrees that more representation and acknowledgement of Black history and present day are needed through NWT schools and is currently working with partners to ensure that appropriate resources are identified and made accessible to NWT schools. This need was highlighted and arguably heightened with the recent Black Lives Matter international protests, which compelled ECE to reach out to local NWT advocacy groups.

ECE met with representatives from BACupNorth in December to discuss their thoughts and recommendations on the inclusion of resources in NWT schools. Discussions identified the importance of students understanding and learning about the history of Black Canadians but also the positive history. We do have a negative history in Canada, but there are also numerous positive contributions, as well. We want to make sure that we are giving a full picture.

There is a follow-up meeting with BACupNorth in early March, and ECE is currently reviewing a list of recommended reading materials that have been identified for NWT schools to help ensure that students of colour see themselves in the books that they read. ECE will ensure that copies of these recommended books are distributed to all NWT schools by the beginning of the upcoming school year.

I am really glad to hear that, particularly the idea of critiquing things that have happened in the past and looking at things through a new lens. My next question is a little bit redundant like the first, but I would like to know what the GNWT is doing. We have seen a lot of evidence of police brutality, derogatory treatment, and incarceration of Black and Indigenous people across the country and here in the North. What is the GNWT doing itself, or internally, to address anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in law enforcement and in the criminal justice system?

I recently met with the commanding officer of the RCMP, and he had also met with BACupNorth. He was very open to working with them, continuing to work with them, and providing them support in any way that he could. I know that the RCMP also, here in the territory, undertakes cultural training and community integration, but I don't think they do elsewhere in Canada. In that sense, they are ahead of other jurisdictions.

In terms of what we do to address some of the issues surrounding Indigenous people in the justice system, there is the integration of Indigenous culture with input from elders. We have traditional liaison officers. I know, in the South Slave, in SMCC, there are some amazing programs. Those are going to be rolling out to other correctional facilities in the future. As we transition to the new Corrections Act, I think that we are going to see a lot more of that acknowledgement that we need to really work with the people in the system.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question just has to do with the upcoming cultural sensitivity and training that we will be doing. Does the GNWT make available to all GNWT employees cultural sensitivity training that has the purpose of raising awareness on how to interact with Black or people of colour in the workplace and other departments? I do recognize that I am kind of asking a lot of the same questions. Thank you.

We're breaking down silos here, and my colleague from the Department of Finance helped put this answer together. I'm just going to read it verbatim so that I don't mess it up. No shooting from the hip this time.

The Department of Finance is launching an anti-racism campaign through the months of March and April. The campaign will include printed and video resources that encourage public servants to explore anti-racism and to take action against all forms of racism, along with virtual training and workshops.

This month, the department is also rolling out training for all employees on Indigenous cultural awareness and sensitivity. This training will be launched this month and includes content on anti-racism, unconscious bias, white privilege, and how those topics impact all members of our communities. This training will be available to all members of the public.

Additionally, the GNWT has an advisory committee on diversity and inclusion. This committee provides assistance on improving access for designated employment equity groups in the public service by promoting awareness, working with departments to find ways to remove and prevent barriers faced by these groups, and promote support and increase diversity within the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need emergency shelters in my riding. Two weeks ago, I asked the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation to get me the locations of the units in the communities of Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, Ulukhaktok, and Paulatuk. I haven't received anything yet, but I am hoping that we could get this done this week so that I could pass on to my leadership what units are available, either COVID-19 shelters or emergency shelters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.