Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, medical travel is actually currently being reviewed and one of the pillars that is being reviewed is escorts when and how they should be supported. We did go out for public engagement. We got a significant amount of feedback from residents across the Northwest Territories as well as other stakeholders and we are moving forward with that plan. I’ll have a conversation with the department, certainly, and I’m certainly willing to continue to have a dialogue and discussion with the Members across the floor about what we should be covering under escorts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are physicians across the Northwest Territories providing obstetrics services. We also have midwifery services in Fort Smith, Hay River, as well as the MORE OB program up in Beaufort Delta, and we have birthing here in the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, and I think it’s to the Member’s point, there are individuals that do have to come out of their smaller communities to centres like Yellowknife or Fort Smith, Hay River, or Inuvik to facilitate birthing. To bring those individuals in, the mothers, we do bring them in on medical travel and we do provide...

Mr. Speaker, the department has $82,000 in annual funding, and ongoing funding which was available to implement What Will It Take? training across the Northwest Territories. We’re looking at branching out and launching a broader media campaign to create awareness of the program, but also to start working to break down some of the other myths that exist around family violence. We have been attending the community healthy living fairs that have been taking part in the Northwest Territories and we’ve been promoting What Will It Take. We intend to keep running this program. How it looks in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has indicated, the campaign was intended to break down some of the myths and stigma that exist around family violence and create awareness. The program has had a number of workshops delivered across the Northwest Territories. In 2015-2016, as an example, there were 26 workshops that took place. Twelve of those were facilitated by the Status of Women with 146 participants in communities across the Northwest Territories. We also had other facilitators providing the workshop. FOXY facilitated 14 sessions for youth across the Northwest Territories...

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order under rule 24(k), use of abusive or insulting language of a nature likely to create disorder. I have waited until today to raise this point of order because I wanted to review Hansard. Yesterday, during her Member’s statement, Ms. Green said while speaking of members of the public service, and I quote from page six of the unedited Hansard from Thursday, June 16, 2016, “... while we may not like to speak to it, these higher levels raise possibilities of malfeasance and corruption in this spending of public funds.” On the same page, Mr. Speaker, Ms. Green...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, June 24, 2016, I will move that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Vital Statistics Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We tried to the last fiscal year to hire some positions and we weren’t able to get anybody until February 2015 is actually when I believe we were able to get those individuals into that position. I’ll have to confirm. I don’t believe they’re term positions, but I will confirm whether or not they are term, and if they are term what is the end date. I do believe they’re indeterminate at this point, but I will confirm. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, anything’s possible, but we can’t really do anything until we actually have the program designed which is what we’ve hired these individuals to do. Given that they have the appropriate background, it may be appropriate to do so, but it would also depend on whether or not the incumbents were interested in doing that. There’s a lot of ifs here, Mr. Speaker, but we’re open to creativity.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to be tabling the fiveyear strategy that was developed by the NWT Seniors’ Society and the NWT Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults later today. The department has been collaborating with the NWT Seniors’ Society and the network to support training for further frontline providers and screening assessment and support of older adults who undergo abuse. We have made a commitment and now make a commitment again here today that we will continue to work with the Seniors’ Society and participate with the network in prevention of abuse of older adults on the...

Mr. Speaker, the department has been collaborating with the NWT Seniors’ Society and the Network for the Prevention of Abuse of Older Adults. A key action in the strategy is related to training for frontline providers and screening, assessment and support of older adults who actually are undergoing abuse. Older adult abuse screening tools are designed to gather information about older adults and their circumstances in order to evaluate the possibility of abuse occurrence. Screening tools offer a framework for deciding what strategies may be the most appropriate, if problems are identified...