Glen Abernethy

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member indicated, we’re making fundamental changes to the way we provide child and family services here in the Northwest Territories with a focus on the family. Our goal is to keep children with their parents. Raising children is, first and foremost, a family responsibility. I understand when individuals are having difficulty, they often turn to their parents or their siblings or other family members.

If a child enters the system, whether it’s through a voluntary means or whether it’s through an apprehensive means, we do try to engage families to keep their...

Mr. Speaker, last May we presented Our Elders: Our Communities, a strategic framework outlining the government’s commitment to support elders and seniors who wish to live in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, and ensure that services are available when this option is no longer viable.

As the backbone of our communities, elders and seniors should be supported and given the best care possible. Seniors are the fastest growing population in the Northwest Territories. Over the past decade, the seniors demographic has grown at a rate of more than 5 percent per year, and this...

Thank you. The Department of Human Resources actually has cultural competency training that they provide and make available to all residents, or all employees of the GNWT. So in addition to that, the Department of Health and Social Services is currently working on cultural competencies that we can use within the health care system, recognizing that there are a lot of challenges in that area and that’s not just going to be available to social workers. That’s going to be available to doctors, nurses, all allied health professionals as well as social providers.

As far as moving individuals around...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree, the social workers do incredible work and often they’re dealing with very difficult, traumatic situations. In the Department of Health and Social Services as well as in the eight health and social services authorities that we currently have in place, what happens often, and what is organized, is debriefing after very traumatic situations with other professionals. We also make counsellors, other social workers available should an individual be having some difficulty with a situation that they’re in. The Department of Human Resources also provides the Employee...