David Ramsay

To answer that, I’ll quote this young woman’s mother again. “So here I am, losing sleep, wondering if my child is safe, what she is doing, and praying that the RCMP will not come to my door and tell me she is dead.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure held public hearings on Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Local Authorities Elections Act, in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Ulukhaktok, Inuvik, and Aklavik, during the month of April 2011. A public clause-by-clause review was held on May 10, 2011. Seven minor amendments of a technical nature were made to the bill during the clause-by-clause review. Following the clause-by-clause review a motion was carried to report Bill 8 to the Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and...

I suspect that from the age of 12 to 18 it would be the same answer that the Minister would give us. I’d like to ask the Minister specific to families that are experiencing difficulties with the youth between 12 and 18 years of age what programs and services currently does the Department of Health and Social Services have at their disposal to help families going through these traumatic experiences with their children. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services getting back to my statement that I made earlier today. In my statement I highlighted a Yellowknife scenario, but believe me, the situation where parents are losing their teenage sons and daughters to alcohol and drugs can happen in communities across the Northwest Territories; Inuvik, Fort Smith, Hay River, just to name a few.

Many families here in the Northwest Territories are being ripped apart with nowhere to turn when their children aged 15 to 18 take to the streets, are drinking, doing drugs and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are some very scary things happening on the streets of this city. That’s why it’s so important for our schools, Social Services and the police to do the right thing when they are faced with young people whose lives are seriously at risk. It can be the difference between saving a life and sending a youth down a long and dangerous slide, one that they may never get out of.

Only days ago we had a young man, only 16 years old, pass away in a downtown alley. We should take this to heart, Mr. Speaker, as this young man’s family and friends have. It’s any parent’s worst...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This issue was clearly identified during the review of the Child and Family Services Act that was conducted by the Social Programs committee just recently. I’d like to know whether or not the government is going to take any action to address the gap in services and the help available to families that are going through these difficult times, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if a child is 16 years old, why can’t addictions treatment be given and mandated to that youth at a parent’s request when the teenager who is oblivious to their problem says no, the treatment can’t be enacted upon? I’d like to ask the Minister why this is the case that a 16 year old whose parents want them to get treatment cannot force that child into treatment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now there’s no solution in sight. Her daughter is falling through the cracks in our support system and it could happen to anyone. Believe me, it is tearing families apart in this city. It is happening to many others.

As a government we must do a better job at filling in these gaps and services before any more youth are lost to the streets of this city. Thank you.

I thank the Minister again for that. In closing, I think we all share that feeling that we’ve got to do things right. We have done a number of things right in the past three and a half years but there are some things, yes, if we could go back in time would we do them again? Not a chance. However, we do have to move forward and I think the key to all of this is the P3 policy and, like I said, what the rules of engagement are going to be as we move forward.

My apologies if I missed this, but has anybody asked the Minister when exactly that policy, I know it’s in draft form now, when are we going...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d agree with everything the Minister has just stated about reasons why we should look at hydro expansion in the Northwest Territories. That’s not debatable. What’s debatable in all of this is the government’s involvement, again, with another partner who had no equity, who the government, in fact, had to pay to be our partner. I mean, what kind of partner is a partner that you actually have to pay to show up?

The government got lambasted over the Auditor General’s report on the Deh Cho Bridge. We have got to, at the end of the day, learn some lessons about partnerships...