David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If individuals are recommitting offences 15, 16, 18, 19 times, Mr. Speaker, doesn’t the Minister want to state to this House and state to the public that, yes, we have a problem with the way we are rehabilitating individuals that are incarcerated in our corrections system, Mr. Speaker? That’s obvious. I’d like to again ask the Minister to commit to a review of services and programs provided to individuals who are incarcerated in the Northwest Territories today for violent crimes. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this individual that has 19 prior offences of a violent nature, in fact, killed somebody, got five years. Mr. Speaker, according to some folks that work with sentencing, this individual could be walking the streets of the Northwest Territories in 22 months’ time. Mr. Speaker, 19 times the system has failed him. I’d like to again ask the Minister of Justice what safeguards are in place or what are we going to do differently with this individual that is going to ensure public safety when he gets released, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sounds like we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that locum nurses are going to be in these positions and the department and the authorities are not going to post the positions to be filled by resident nurses here in the Northwest Territories. Is that what I’m hearing the Minister say? That locums are there permanently, we’re not posting those jobs? I’d like to ask the Minister why aren’t we posting the jobs that locums are filling today. Thank you.

Thank you. I hope the Minister can appreciate the fact that these graduates are months away from completing the program, yet when they look at the government website and any job postings, there are just none available and they’re left scratching their head saying, well, the Minister was here three years ago and promised us jobs, where are they? Then they see locum and agency nurses working in our health authorities and at Stanton and they wonder where are the postings. I’d like to ask the Minister if she can explain the fact that we have these locum and agency nurses here and no job postings...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to be speaking today about the Northern Nursing Program at Aurora College. As Members are well aware, this program became a four-year degree-granting program a few years ago. It is affiliated with the University of Victoria.

One of Ms. Lee’s first speeches as Minister of Health and Social Services was to address first-year students of the Northern Nursing Program at Aurora College in the fall of 2007. Ms. Lee’s address that day was full of encouragement, support, and promise of full-time employment in the Northwest Territories for each graduating student. Well...

I thank the Minister for that. I know the good work that’s done around the Territory by service and program providers in the area of family violence. It’s much appreciated and our residents are glad that those services and programs are out there for them. I wouldn’t want to underestimate the work that’s happening there. I think it is good work.

The Minister talked about partnerships. Some of the dialogue that I have had here in the last couple of days has been with the Minister of Justice. I think a big part of this is targeting really the only person that can make a difference in domestic...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a few questions on community health programs. First off, I wish the Minister and the department every success in trying to get together a respite program for the entire Territory. I think it’s a big piece of work and something that I think will be greatly appreciated in communities around the Northwest Territories. It think that’s a step in the right direction.

I also wanted to thank the Yellowknife Association for Community Living for the program that they’ve run quite successfully here in Yellowknife for the last number of years. I’ve seen, firsthand...

Mr. Speaker, I hate to think that the next victim is part of the justice system here in the Northwest Territories and part of an individual’s rehabilitation plan. That’s hard to imagine, Mr. Speaker; the fact that someone can reoffend 19 times of a violent nature, in this case, and there are other instances.

I spoke of an individual that has 18 prior convictions. He got five months for assaulting his partner. This speaks to some serious flaws in the way that we are rehabilitating offenders of violent crime here in the Northwest Territories.

Again, I’d like to ask the Minister -- I asked him...

Judging by the amount of repeat offenders, especially in the area of violent crime that we have here in the Northwest Territories, I’m wondering if the Minister could commit to reviewing the programs and services that are available for violent offenders at the North Slave Correctional Centre and other correctional facilities around the Northwest Territories in an effort to make sure that we are getting the best programs and services into our correctional facilities that we can. I’d suggest that the Minister look around the country, and even North America for that matter, to find out where the...

What message does this send to the victims -- these light sentences -- and to their families? Certainly we know the message that light sentences have on offenders, especially if they’re not thoroughly rehabilitated. They will get out and, sadly, most of them will reoffend. We have to do everything in our power to turn that trend around.