Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, that wasn’t the intent when I said that. I have no way of knowing what might have happened if there were different facilities in place. We’ve worked entirely on what was in place. My point was that a group home is not an expensive facility to build. It doesn’t need to have security. It’s basically a family home type of setting. So it is something that isn’t expensive to add to the inventory if it’s ever needed, in comparison to a facility like the open custody facility we have here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, was that the facility in Yellowknife is a combined facility. One half of it is for secure custody and the other is open custody. Because it is the only secure custody facility in the Northwest Territories, we can’t close the facility down. So the level of savings that could be achieved by not operating the open side were not nearly the same as what could be achieved by closing a facility down completely. That was one of the reasons. The other was just the fact, as the Member noted, that one was newer than the other, and the issue of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on October 28, 2004, Mrs. Groenewegen asked me to confirm that the NWT Status of Women Council was invited to be a full participant in the preparation of the NWT action plan on family violence. I would like to clarify my answers to Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Coalition Against Family Violence developed the NWT action plan on family violence, 2003-2008, and presented it to the Government of the Northwest Territories in October of 2003. The Status of Women Council is a member of that coalition.

To develop a response, the GNWT brought together representatives from...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This bill amends the Territorial Court Act to remove restrictions that affect territorial court judges and deputy territorial court judges when they turn 65. Presently the judges cease to hold office on attaining age 65. However, they may be reappointed on the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee for fixed terms of three years for territorial judges, and two years for deputy judges. The ultimate requirement that the judges cease to hold office upon turning 75 is retained, consistent with the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Government policy is that indeterminate employees are the only ones who gain the benefit of the staff retention policy. So we do not offer a program specifically for casual and term employees. However, I would expect that, if these people have worked for some time, they would have good references that would stand them in good stead with other jobs when they come open. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would concur with the Member that we have an awful lot of experience at Dene K’onia and people with good experience and a lot of dedication to the job. It is one of the bright points that came out of the review of Justice that was done last year. We have an awful lot of dedicated employees who have stuck around for a long time. We would very much like to keep as many employees as possible and take advantage of their knowledge, skills and experience. The offer of transfer will be made to many or has been made to many. Unfortunately, a lot of people find that it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Minister responsible for official languages, I don’t think this government has any policy discouraging the use of any languages, whether they are official or not, in the Northwest Territories. I think I have already answered this question. I said that the government encourages the use of all languages.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government supports the use of people's first languages as much as possible. We want people to be able to celebrate their language and culture, and it is the position of the government that people should be able to use their language with people around them. Of course, if there’s a situation at work that requires that everybody understands what is going on, we would expect that there would be use of a common language. But we do respect the use of all languages in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, childcare is an area of exclusive provincial and territorial responsibility. We’re not talking about a national system, we’re not talking about something that would be the same in all jurisdictions. For instance, Quebec already has a system that is the envy of everybody else in Canada and they’re putting billions of dollars into that. Our system is starting from a different point, as is every other system in Canada. So what we’re talking about is a program where the federal government would assist the provinces and territories to improve on the systems...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT, like most jurisdictions, is willing to accept the accountability provisions as long as there is adequate money. The problem we face right now is if the money flows to us through the CST and comes only in a per capita basis, the costs to report on what we are doing would take up an awful lot of the amount of money that we would get. As Members of this House know, if we get funding flowed to us on a solely per capita basis, we will not get enough money to make a significant difference in the childcare field. So our position is that there has to...