Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two documents I would like to table today. One is a media release that was put out on February 12, 2015, entitled “Elder Abuse – ‘Duty to Report’ Should be Enshrined in Law.” There was unanimous agreement by CARP Poll.”

The second one is a comprehensive strategy to eradicate elder abuse founded by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. I would like to table both these documents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know we’ve had this agreement in place for a long time. Only having one uptake in it, that does create some alarms. Why aren’t we hearing more from our employees when sometimes we as MLAs hear it from the employees on a one-on-one basis?

What kind of support is given to our employees so they have the opportunity to speak up without any kind of reprimands to themselves or their jobs? What supports are given to our employees for them to speak up, especially on the health and safety aspect with workers in the workplace? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we do have a lot of individuals and professionals who do work with the senior population.

Has the Minister put any new financial resources or personnel resources in terms of providing support for our professionals to continue to work with our seniors’ society, with training or any kind of other clinical support, which was also a recommendation in the strategic plan put out by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons? Has the Minister put any further support into the senior division within his department? Thank you.

I’m talking specifically about professionals. I’m glad the Minister also agrees that all residents of the North should speak up, but under a duty to report it would protect professionals who interact with the elderly and dependent adults, and with this duty to report it would have clear guidelines for action, intervention and protection, along with adding a professional capacity to investigate such reports.

In my research, I’ve noticed that both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have an Adult Protection Act. Nova Scotia’s came into effect June 2014.

Can I ask the Minister when he directed his...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, as Members know, I attended a celebration for Elizabeth Greenland who had her 95th birthday. It dawned on me at the event, when I looked around the Ingamo Hall and saw all the elders who were in attendance and the long-term care facility staff that brought all the elders from the hospital to celebrate in these celebrations – and many of them participated in the dancing and the feast – they had looks of joy on their faces, happiness, and they looked alive.

As we stand up here today on Pink Shirt Day, what dawned on me on that day was it was great to have a lot...

Thank you for the explanation. Also, I know that discussions have already been going on in the communities. Just referring back, because we don’t have the report in front of us so we have to go by what has been quoted in some of the papers, it talks about some of our experts who have been in the field a long time, stating that in some of the cases a personal opinion is that this is going to be a fairly dry season, if not drier than last year. As I mentioned in briefings before, I’ve talked to people in the fire suppression division and they’re saying the same things.

It’s also mentioned here...

I appreciate the response. I think that’s something that really seriously needs to be looked at in terms of increasing the incentives and the grants to our harvesters because they are spending a lot of money and I’m not sure what their return on investment is for going out on the land.

I just want to speak to this Energy Efficiency Incentive Program. I know we talked in the House about that Net Metering Program kind of developed about a year ago today I guess. For businesses, the Net Metering Program is limited at five kilowatts and it’s not feasible for some businesses to invest in their own...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don’t have a whole lot to add in terms of what other Members had said yesterday, but just a couple of comments.

I’m really glad to see the investment in the traditional economy programs. I know that some of our residents who used to work in some industries that used to be up and running and don’t have that opportunity anymore because the economy is pretty slow have looked at going into the traditional economy, whether it’s harvesting or trapping, and even though the investment is there, I’m not too sure how much of it is new dollars. I won’t get into the detail as we’ll...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 36, Health and Social Services Professions Act, and wishes to report that Bill 36 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted.

Yes, one of the highlights that Dechinta University does is they have relationships with the U of A, U of Vic, UBC and McGill and have brought millions of dollars of research to the North. I know the Minister is aware of that as they’ve also worked in partnership with Dechinta. Within the Education Act, would the department look at committing, possibly by the end of this term, to making an amendment to the Education Act to recognize, along with leading universities in Canada, the Dechinta Bush University Centre for Research?

Would he look at amending that act so we can recognize the work that...