Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I just want to start by noting that the Standing Committee on Social Programs did have the courtesy of sharing with the Minister our draft report on the review of the Child and Family Services Act, and we were pleased to do so. I want to preface my questions by noting that it would have been great to see the department’s response to it before it was tabled today. But not having seen it, when is the Minister proposing to get the Healthy Families Program into every community in the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Early investments in the health and well-being of mothers and children through nurse-family programs pays huge benefits down through the years. Good work is underway in four communities through the Healthy Families Program at the Department of Health and Social Services and I look forward to hearing more details on any expansion to be proposed in this year’s budget.

Nurse-family programs focus on improving prenatal health, reducing child abuse and enhancing family functioning in the first two years of the child’s life. Unlike many mental health, substance abuse and crime...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance as well. I’d like to start by asking where the funding, I didn’t see any funding identified for the implementation of a new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy which the Minister is committed to complete by this spring and I think is well on the road towards doing that. I’m wondering why we haven’t identified that in our initiatives. That’s obviously going to require some new dollars to achieve, hopefully, some more progressive targets.

Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the comments of my colleagues here. There’s certainly a ring of commonality out there. I’m sure the Ministers are listening. I think there are some real opportunities out there and I’m not convinced at all that we’re capturing those opportunities.

I want to start off by thanking the Minister for his budget address. I’m looking forward to getting into the detail, as I’ve talked about this a couple times today.

I note that three years ago we set a goal of living within our means and I will be commenting on that subsequently here.

With regard to the economy, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for those remarks. Our strategic plan for the 16th Assembly, a couple of the pillars supposedly identified there were a preventative approach and a comprehensive, government-wide, cross-departmental approach to try and get rid of the stovepipes that are out there, so called. How does the Minister see this budget bringing an enhanced focus on a preventative and cross-departmental or government-wide approach on some of the big issues in a way that we haven’t seen to date despite our plan?

I appreciate the comments of the Minister. I assure him that it’s not just a priority of mine. It probably is, and should be, a priority of most people in the Northwest Territories, if you listen to the radio at all and hear what’s happening out there. I’m hoping that this is not a hollow exercise like the Heritage Fund, that we’re going to go to all this work and then not be prepared to fund it. A little bit distressing there.

I’m also wondering about the devolution negotiation funds. Obviously, we’ve signed the AIP and we’re now on the trail towards a final agreement. It’s going to be a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome my constituents Dick and Loretta Abernethy. I’d also like to recognize representatives from the labour unions, certainly Mary Lou Cherwaty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve heard the Minister of Finance’s priorities stated in his budget address today. Today I will take my two minutes and add some of my priorities, review some of my priorities that I will pursue in the upcoming budget debate.

At the top of the list is implementation of the recommendations of the Child and Family Services Act review. We heard more evidence of this urgent need on this morning’s news with the extremely sad report of a teen suicide and the coroner specifically urging action on the committee’s recommendations.

Action on housing. We urgently need a...

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Next I have Ms. Bisaro.