Glen Abernethy

We have five different regional shelters that are available to women and I know the RCMP are working closely with communities to try to find solutions that work with them. I’m happy to have a discussion with the community to hear their concerns and their desires and bring it back to Cabinet and committees. Thank you.

I support the extended family fosters. I support grandparents becoming foster parents when there is a risk of abuse or neglect within a family. But there are situations where families are making choices regardless of whether there’s risk of neglect or abuse. I want to find ways to support and we are working, but we do need to be cautious. Paying some grandparents to look after grandchildren when there is no risk of abuse or neglect would open the door for all grandparents to expect payment when they agree to look after their grandchildren. We need to ensure that we’re focusing on grandparents...

Where there’s no involvement of the child and family services of the requirements under the act for engagements, grandparents are, absolutely, free to welcome their grandchildren into their home, but the GNWT is not responsible for the financial costs of those individuals coming in unless the child and family services has been engaged.

If grandparents choose to take a child into their care and they do run into financial difficulties, as the Member indicated, they are available to go to income support if they are having financial challenges as a result of bringing those children in.

We are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a few different individuals. First, I would like to recognize Dr. Pertice Moffit who is the manager and instructor of health research programs at the Aurora Research Institute as well as at Aurora College and also the recipient of the 2015 Wise Women Award for the North Slave. I would also like to recognize Brianne Timpson who is an instructor in the Bachelor of Science in the Nursing Program here at Aurora College. Just for the record, both Dr. Pertice Moffit and Brianne Timpson are co-authors of the report of Influences on the Quality of Life of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Influences on the Quality of Life of the Older Adult in the Northwest Territories.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There are multiple things going on here and I would encourage the community to continue to work with the RCMP to explore options and solutions for their community.

We, as a Cabinet, know that there are many solutions in communities. A lot of communities are stepping up with creative ideas and options for their people and we want to support that as much as possible. So I look forward to hearing what the community has to say. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I actually haven’t had any discussions with the Member on this and I was not aware that Tsiigehtchic was looking for a women’s shelter. When it comes to domestic violence and abuse here in the Northwest Territories, we work closely with the Department of Justice and other community organizations to try to find local solutions. But I would be happy to have discussion with the Member and the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Not all grandparents who take children are going to run into financial difficulties, but where they do run into financial difficulties they are able to go to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and income support. We do recognize that addressing the issue that the Member is talking about, those individuals who have not gone to child and family services but are taking care of their grandchildren and they do need some supports, it’s going to take an interdepartmental approach involving integrated case management. It’s going to take a number of departments, because the issues are...

The Stanton Elders Advisory Council will be playing a lead role in the work that I have articulated that is going to occur, starting in April, for the next three to four months, the planning, the articulation, programs and services.

We don’t have a lot of money in the Government of the Northwest Territories. Our budgets are incredibly limited. So to move on something like this is going to take a significant amount of creativity and ingenuity. We are looking, as I said, to other partners who might be interested in coming in on this particular project, whether it’s Aboriginal governments in the...

The Stanton renewal planning work that has been going on has actually identified a piece of land on the property where an Aboriginal wellness centre can go. The next step in planning is actually to develop a more detailed outline of the program requirements, what the Elders Advisory Council would like to see, as well as other Aboriginal government partners. Starting in April, we are going to be developing and consolidating all of that information into a plan that will help us articulate what exactly an Aboriginal wellness centre will be, what standards, what codes, what facilities, what...