Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly community justice and restorative justice is one of the priorities of this government and of this Assembly. And, you know, we're very engaged on the fact that Indigenous people are more over-represented in the justice system across the NWT. So currently as of April 2026, we have six multi-year agreements and 13 single-year agreements in the community justice file across the NWT. This is one of the ways that we're certainly working with communities in addressing this challenge.

We also have a large number of programs available across the NWT. So I will focus on one, but there are many. There's community -- there's the wellness court. There's intimate partner violence treatment option. There's justice navigators. But I will focus on the men's healing fund which is one of the programs that is highlighted here.

Currently, there are six communities that are participating in that fund, and two of those communities, Aklavik and Fort McPherson, are from the Member's riding. So we're very happy to report on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's, on the average, costing about $600 to house an inmate per day. And with the money going to the community programs for the -- it's less than what it costs to house an inmate in the correctional institution. How does the government justify that continued reliance on correctional facilities at the cost of over $600 per day per inmate when evidence shows restorative justice programs can be effective in reducing re-offending and supporting rehabilitation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it just so happens I was looking at the rate or the total count of inmates in the North Slave Correctional Centre this morning, and currently there are 12 incarcerated people that are actually serving time in the North Slave Correctional Centre. There were two federal inmates and the remainder, which was 130-some, were remands. So there's a small number of inmates that are actually serving time in the Northwest Territories.

We have a tremendous investment in many of the community programs besides what we invest in the rehabilitation side. So there's $2.3 million that's in community justice committees. There's $800,000 in the justice navigator pilot program. We have a special funding project fund also that can be accessed by communities if they want to do some work in that direction of creating a special project within their community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These community-based programs are not funded enough to take on the responsibility of restorative justice in terms of going out on the land. It's where the healing is. And, you know, what measures are in place to ensure that first-time and nonviolent offenders are consistently assessed and directed toward restorative justice options within their home community or out on the land? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, through the community justice program there are outreach workers that assist community members in accessing these programs. The idea is to have, you know, early offenders be able to access this resource and participate. And we're certainly happy to share information with the Member about the many programs that are available across the NWT in the process in order to access those resources for his communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

I know we've spoken a number of times in this House about the high rates of staff vacancies and turnover among social workers, particularly within NWT child and family services. I am wondering if the Minister has any insights into how that high staff turnover and high caseload for the rest of the social workers, how that affects children in care. So specifically children in temporary or permanent custody of CFS, for example when it comes to those children being able to establish a meaningful relationship over time with the social worker assigned to them or a revolving door of staff assigned to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we do know is stability does matter. Child protection workers are not a replacement of caregivers. They are facilitators on a pathway to family reunification and healing. A lot of our stats show that many of the kids that are in the program of child and family services are under voluntary service agreements and a large portion of those children still remain at home with their families. So the main caregiver for those children and supports are their family at home; however, I understand that when they're in foster care their child protection worker may be the one consistent when they become in that area. But the change from individual child protection worker to another, the child protection workers are trained through their training, the training system, and they follow territorial standards to try and focus on cultural safety, trauma-informed practices. So, I mean, and that's why the emphasis is always trying to keep them with family and in their homes or in their communities as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that CFS workers sometimes have the power to make really fundamental decisions about children's lives, including who they stay with, if or when they might be put up for adoption or how often they might get to travel to see relatives, how can we be confident that those workers are making decisions that are in the best interests of children in their custody given that those staff are so overworked and may struggle to even maintain regular contact with the children? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, finally, can the Minister explain how the children and youth that are in care, how they themselves are involved in making those fundamental decisions about their own lives? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Children and youth have rights when involved in child and family services, and the right to be heard is very critical for the department. The Child and Family Services Act emphasizes that wishes of the children over 12 must be considered in case planning and in drafting care agreements and minimum contact with children emphasizes the inclusion of a child's voice in decision-making. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on my Member's statement where I am suggesting that we need pathways or navigator people to work with the medical travel system because people often, I find, are overwhelmed by the process and whether they understand it fully or not, they're under the fog of stress of the challenge before them, Mr. Speaker. And I am going to say, as an example -- it's not a real person, but I am going to -- the name that is, but it's a real circumstance is, you know, Yvette got approval for her medical travel to book her own travel arrangements, but when she did the follow-ups she was told no. And it only seems fair that the subsequent journey is supported.

Mr. Speaker, is there a way that the Minister can create or develop or redistribute resources to ensure that patients get the navigation and support during the medical travel process so they know they have to keep going back for approvals thereafter? Because they were quite upset the second and third time on the same journey they were denied. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the scenario but without -- and I wouldn't speak to details on any personal medical travel on any individual. But every medical travel case that goes through medical travel, you know, it depends on what insurance that covers them that's covered for them. It depends on the point of nearest facility available. It depends on, you know -- the follow-up appointments can be -- every single time there's a travel, it has to be initiated with a new medical travel process. So, I mean, I appreciate the Member trying to create a scenario but whenever we deal with medical travel or any BFs, it's every single -- it's a complex system and so I wouldn't be able to respond to just that. However, we have put navigators throughout the system over the years, like the cancer navigators that really help with patients that are travelling for cancer issues. We have recently approved the case managers for medical travel that are going to be overseeing, making sure people are travelling when they need to travel. And then we also have the client of office experience and the medical travel office themselves and the staff there themselves, so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we have to take the context here. Yvette's not the real name, but it's personalized because it's true to real people, and I've even talked to some of my colleagues who've had similar examples.

Yvette goes for her treatment and told you can book your same -- your travel and make arrangements, but she goes back for the follow-up for the exact same process and under the fog, whether she was told or not, it doesn't matter, but natural justice would think it's supported. So, Mr. Speaker, that's why I am asking for, would a navigator keep checking in with these people.

Mr. Speaker, is there anything the Minister can do to, A, correct the situation I am describing; and, B, move forward in a more positive supportive way.

Mr. Speaker, that is why we initiated the medical travel case manager pilot so that they can make sure that the process and people are travelling and whatever paperwork and processes are needed to be done are getting done. And as anyone -- as medical travel is initiated, it has to be pre-approved for travel and so if they were approved for the first travel, the second travel still has to be pre-approved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary. Member from the Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And under the fog of stress and focus, that's the problem, is those messages get lost and the relationship is important so, Mr. Speaker, I reaffirm once again the same point which is, is there any way to revisit this challenge? Looking back as well as looking forward, today we could do something for a family that feels very stressed. And I am not representing the only family who's gone through this experience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.