Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Today with me on my right is Kelly McLaughlin, the director of legislation with the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to speak about Bill 19, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2013. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their review of this bill.

The purpose of this act is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed and errors or inconsistencies have been identified.

Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

It must not be controversial;

It must not involve the spending of public funds;

It must not prejudicially affect rights;

It must not create a new...

Yes, please, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left is Shirley Kemeys-Jones, assistant deputy minister of the Solicitor General branch of the Department of Justice; and, Thomas Druyan on my right, legislative counsel.

I am pleased to be here today to speak about Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Protection Against Family Violence Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its review of this bill.

The purpose of the Protection Against Family Violence Act is to provide emergency and long-term protection for victims of family violence. The act also allows emergency access to assist a person who may be the subject of family violence.

In 2011 an evaluation examined the first five years of the act’s operation, to determine how the legislation was meeting its goals. The recommendations from...

Mr. Speaker, this exact issue came up when I was travelling through Hay River earlier this summer. Residents of Hay River asked roughly the same question. At that point, I did go back to the Department of Health and Social Services and the Minister. We talked about the individual programs that are currently offered or may be offered. I was assured at the time that all the functions that exist within the hospital, with the exception of the 10 long-term care beds, were accounted for in some capacity in Hay River, whether it’s in the new building or somewhere else in the community I do not recall...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Prior to actually moving ahead with the construction of the new hospital, there was a technical evaluation and investment analysis done on the old hospital which clearly demonstrated that the renovation and upgrading of the old hospital would have been far more costly than building the new hospital. There are a number of issues there: age, condition, and costs associated with renovating that building and bringing it up to a standard acceptable for the GNWT.

Having said that, we did move forward with the construction of the new hospital. When the building is empty and the...

Mr. Speaker, community safety is a critical priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. We need to look out for each other and make our neighbourhoods places with a strong sense of well-being. Everyone needs to feel safe and be safe.

Earlier this month Yellowknifers came together to hold a conversation on community safety. My thanks to Ms. Bisaro for the role she played as moderator for the evening. I was also pleased to welcome other MLAs and community leadership to the discussion. The meeting was well-attended by the public and included members from the Coalition Against Family...

I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Shirley Kemeys-Jones. She’s the assistant deputy minister of the Solicitor General’s branch of the Department of Justice, and Ian Rennie, legislative council, on the right.