Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the WSCC is focused on ensuring safe workplaces and ensuring that the employees have safe environments to work so that no injuries occur. The Safe Advantage program details, as the Member has indicated, with businesses over $40,000 in assessment. It was found, Mr. Speaker, that large businesses, due to their accident records and claim costs drive the rates for all businesses in the Northwest Territories.

If the WSCC can get large businesses to lower their accident rates, then it will lower assessment rates for everybody, including small businesses. So their...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the Member's comments. I just want to be clear that this is not lip service, this demonstrates our commitment to making this a reality and making this happen. With respect to change of sex designation, gender, we believe that we will be able to do the work necessary to put this into effect by April of 2017. The same is true for single names, we believe that we should be able to get the work done through regulations and others to make it official and effective in April, 2017.

Implementing Aboriginal fonts is not as simple. The department has been reaching...

I don't have at my fingertips the cost of the Stanton Territorial Hospital program that I previously mentioned, and I'll certainly get that information for the Member and committee, but we do provide money to different organizations across the Northwest Territories, not specifically for FASD but for children who are struggling with a range of disabilities which can and often does include FASD. So what I'll do is I'll pull together some of that information and I'll share it with the Member and with Committee of the Whole.

Birth certificates today do not include anything other than the Roman fonts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions came up, very similar questions came up, a week or two ago. At that time, I indicated the Department of Health and Social Services is absolutely open to doing a pilot in this area, harm reduction, managed alcohol, but the first thing we need to do, Mr. Speaker, is get the sobering centre up and running. It will be our priority once the sobering centre is up and running. We'll be in a better position to design a managed alcohol program. In my mind and I think the mind of others, the two of these come together quite nicely, and this would be the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, ultimately all the decisions on the old hospital are decisions that would be made by the P3 proponent in the property manager which is Venture. From my perspective, from the perspective of Health and Social Services, we see a great opportunity to work with Venture to, you know, hopefully obtain more space for possibly more long-term care space.

We will obviously be pursuing to see if there's a business case in that; we'll be working with committee if there is. We will certainly pursue more space in more space in Stanton recognizing that ultimately the decision...

Mr. Speaker, I'm already on the record, indicating that I've already directed the department to begin the work on the development of a sobering centre. In fact, we're out currently looking for a location for a sobering centre here, in Yellowknife. As the Minister responsible for Homelessness pointed out, initially, we're intending to fund that from within. We need to get it in place, figure out what the costs are going to be, and move forward accordingly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the planning study for the Lutselk'e facility has been completed, and what it's proposing is a retrofit expansion for that facility. We are just waiting to find a way to get it into the queue when capital room is available.

It would be competing with Fort Simpson, assuming we get it done, which I anticipate we will, Tulita, Jean Marie River, and a number of other projects. We're trying to move all of these forward as quickly as we can.

The earliest that it would be in the budget would be 20182019, recognizing once again Tulita, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River...

Mr. Speaker, traditionally, we have supported some of the different senior societies around the Northwest Territories who have done a lot of this work. But in our design of independent living units and other facilities around the Northwest Territories, we have actually allowed for space where seniors can get together and do programming, whether we are delivering the programming or whether it is community groups who are delivering the programs.

I would suggest that the Member or any of the Members have an opportunity to take a look at one of our new independent living units put together by the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when it comes to health centres, health clinics, health cabins, those types of things, the Department of Health and Social Services is essentially the client. We are identifying the program and the magnitude of programs and services that we need to be available through a facility, and the facility must be designed to meet those needs, but Public Works and Services is the builder.

Also, Public Works and Services, for Health and Social Services as for all other departments, has a responsibility for property management, which means they are managing leases, they're...