Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome many of the people who've already been welcomed: the staff from A New Day program; the leaders of the NWT Association of Communities; and I saw Alex Lambrecht, the new President of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour. I think it's really important for us to have leaders here who we can collaborate with and who support us in the things that we're doing. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's also important for us parents to talk to our daughters about the danger of sexual assault and how they can keep themselves safe and the need for consent. The government also needs to put a high priority on increasing awareness about consent, and responding effectively to girls and women who report being assaulted.

Mr. Speaker, sexual assault is a chronic problem in the NWT; but the biggest lesson of all is that it's preventable. What stands in our way is talking openly about sexual assault and creating a culture where it is unacceptable. Mahsi.

I beg your pardon, Mr. Speaker. May I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

---Unanimous consent granted

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to draw your attention to a study published this year by YWCA Yellowknife titled "Hush Hush No More: Improving NWT Community Response to Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls." It contains some important recommendations about new responses by health providers and communities to sexual violence as well as prevention.

Mr. Speaker, by way of background, this study is based on interviews with women who have experienced sexual assault and service providers from five NWT communities. The study notes that men and boys also experience sexual violence but they were not part of this particular study. The details are depressing. Sexual assault occurs on a continuum from unwanted touching to rape; two-thirds of the female victims are under 24 years old and fewer than 10 per cent report what happened to them to the police. Statistics Canada says these assaults occur in the NWT at nine times the national average.

Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight the need for a better society-wide understanding of consent. Consent is the means to reduce these shocking numbers. Consent means that people freely agree to engage in sexual activity with one another. A person can't consent if he or she is impaired by drugs or alcohol; when there's a physical or psychological threat present; or when there's a difference in their power and authority. It's also possible to consent and then later change your mind. Children under 12 can't consent to sexual activity of any kind, and between the age of 13 and 16 they can consent if their partner is a teenager as well. If consent doesn't fall within those very strict guidelines, then sexual assault is taking place.

Mr. Speaker, the YWCA study highlighted the silence that surrounds this issue. It quotes elders warning younger people not to report assault and not to make trouble. Secrecy has been the norm, in part because of the possible repercussions of reporting these incidents, especially in small communities. As a result, victims often blame themselves for what happened. Sexual assault creates feelings of powerlessness and it's time to turn that around. The report contains 10 recommendations and some of them can be implemented immediately. For example, it's important to engage and support people who have disclosed sexual violence in a non-judgmental way. It's also important for us as parents --

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Background

Many legislatures across the globe face a common problem: Their citizens are neither knowledgeable about, nor very satisfied with them as institutions. This political disengagement, coupled with generational change, increased policy and legislative complexity, declining scrutiny by traditional media, and the growing influence of social media have all contributed to the sense of a growing democratic deficit between the public and the lawmakers.

In an effort to bridge this democratic deficit, there has been a worldwide shift towards open government. Public engagement strategies have been developed by many legislatures. The broadly held view is that improved levels of knowledge about a legislature will contribute to greater public understanding of it, which, in turn, will increase accountability, satisfaction, and public participation.

Members of the 18th Assembly recognize the need for greater transparency and accountability in our consensus government. They are committed to providing the public with more information about the decision-making process and better opportunities to take part. To this end, Members of the Legislative Assembly recently revised the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions for Consensus Government to move toward open government [see Tabled Document 207-18(2)].

Designing Effective Public Engagement

The extent to which the public could participate in governmental processes and decision-making has been described as a spectrum by organizations such as the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). At one end of the spectrum is the one-way flow of information intended to inform and educate the public. At the other end of the spectrum is the delegation of decision-making, empowering members of the public to make the decisions. Between these two extremes are “consultation” and “collaboration”.

One of the greatest challenges is to create the right conditions for effective community and public engagement. Channels for involving interest groups and specialized experts in public decision-making are well established in most governments. Channels for broader input from citizens who wish to participate in setting public policy are less defined. Authentic public engagement enables regular citizens to deliberate and collaborate on complex public problems. As a result, leaders know where the public stands, while citizens themselves contribute to solutions through their input, ideas and actions.

The small and diverse population of the Northwest Territories is sometimes an advantage. There are many examples of high-quality, productive public input in the history of the Legislative Assembly, including committee hearings on legislation that have profoundly improved the bills that were ultimately enacted. In recent years, these include hearings on the Mental Health Act, the Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act, the Child and Family Services Act,and others. These are useful examples on which to build on.

The ultimate goal is to promote a “culture of openness” in which citizens provide input, monitor progress, and see that their participation is valued by decision-makers. According to the Center for Advances in Public Engagement, a non-profit and nonpartisan organization based in the United States, authentic and skilled engagement with a broad cross-section of stakeholders improves results by:

● bringing together multiple points of view to inform decisions;

● creating legitimacy and a sense of shared responsibility by involving the public early and often before decisions are made;

● fostering new allies and collaborations;

● stimulating broad awareness and momentum for change

Public engagement initiatives should be well-planned and meaningful. As noted in an October, 2009 article by Cary Coglianese, in Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions, more transparency and engagement does not necessarily lead to better decision-making. Care must be taken not to:

● stifle honest and frank discussion of issues among the decision-makers;

● increase information sharing and engagement with a narrow group of already engaged individuals, organizations, or special interest groups; or

● limit the type of information brought forward, for fear it will breach a privilege, impact on-going negotiations, or have a negative impact on other matters

Public engagement initiatives should not raise an unreasonable expectation that all information will be available to the public or that public input will be sought on all issues. Governments have often failed to manage expectations of public consultation. The U.S.-based National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) led a collaborative project which identified seven core principles for public engagement. These principles were outlined in 2009, in Core Principles for Public Engagement:

1. Careful planning and preparation: Through adequate and inclusive planning, ensure that the design, organization, and convening of the process serve both a clearly-defined purposed and the needs of the participants;

1. Inclusion and demographic diversity: Equitably incorporate diverse people, voices, ideas, and information to lay the groundwork for quality outcomes and democratic legitimacy;

1. Collaboration and shared purpose: Support and encourage participants, government and community institutions, and others to work together for the common good;

1. Openness and learning: Help all those involved listen to each other, explore new ideas unconstrained by predetermined outcomes, learn and apply information in ways that generate new options, and rigorously evaluate public engagement activities for effectiveness;

1. Transparency and trust: Be clear and open about the process, and provide a public record of the organizers, sponsors, outcomes, and range of views and ideas expressed;

1. Impact and action: Ensure each participatory effort had real potential to make a difference, and that participants are aware of that potential;

1. Sustained engagement and participatory culture: Promote a culture of participation with programs and institutions that support on-going, quality public engagement.

The committee believes these core principles are applicable to the task of increasing standing committee transparency and public engagement. We applied them to our consideration of the options for immediate action, and will be mindful of them in our on-going work.

In addition, plain language should be used to ensure that information and invitations to participate are appropriate to the intended audience. This may involve the use of plain language experts where appropriate. Members of the public may reasonably expect to be capable of navigating information provided through engagement initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to now call on Mr. Beaulieu to continue with the report.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate all the award winners and I would like to introduce my neighbour and constituent, Karen Wright-Fraser, who helped organize today's events. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, "Guiding Principles and Process Conventions for Consensus Government in the NWT." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll look for to that confirmation from the Minister. Finally, I'm going to repeat the question that commentators and frontline service providers as well as I have been asking: will the Minister recognize that taking away the food and clothing allowance for children under 18 was the wrong thing to do and to reinstate that allowance immediately? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Another situation that's like this that I'll bring to his attention is mothers with newborns. They often will take months of waiting to get the money paid, to get on with the support of the Canada Child Benefit. The other problem I want to bring to his attention is timing. So food and clothing allowances used to be paid at the beginning of the month. The Canada Child Benefit is paid in the last half of the month and people end up at food banks and other food security places earlier because they run out of money. Can the Minister say how people should be budgeting the lesser funds to make them stretch further?