Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3-17(4), Report on the Review of the 2011-2012 Annual Report of the Information Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

An anti-poverty coordinator has been hired with an effective date of October 21, 2013. This individual coordinates territorial action plans, provides advice and recommendations to the GNWT on any ongoing initiatives that support the priorities in the frameworks, and identify areas for collaboration actions to advance the priorities of the framework among all of our partners, including GNWT departments and NGOs. This position will also review annual results of the GNWT partner actions and complete results reports and report progress on broad social indicators. So the answer is yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The framework was released earlier this calendar year, and the government and Cabinet have been working on an action plan to respond to that framework. We have shared that draft with committee and we are working on the committee’s responses to it to improve that plan as we move forward.

In the meantime, we’ve funded the No Place for Poverty Coalition to have a roundtable of their own to start working on individual responses to the report so we can all come together in November. November 28th and 29th are the dates that have been confirmed for our territorial group to...

There has been some discussion around this and it’s something we’re certainly interested in having some conversation on, but there are some challenges there that we have to be aware of; for instance, insurance coverage and making sure that the individual is safe. We need to make sure that an individual is safe, and if he or she happens to be the only individual in a community providing policing, or is seen as the only person, they could be in harm’s way, so we need to make sure that we put in mechanisms to ensure that that is not the case, and we don’t have those questions answered at this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a dedicated officer in Fort McPherson that is intended to provide services to Tsiigehtchic. In the last sitting the Member did raise some concerns he had about some relationship between the community of Tsiigehtchic and the RCMP detachment in Fort McPherson, and I did have some staff and the commanding officer of “G” Division go out and visit Tsiigehtchic and try to work out some of the complications or difficulties that existed. It’s my understanding that they have actually worked out a few things, which I think is a step in the right direction.

The Member is...

In coming forward with all these frameworks and strategies that have come forward in the last couple of months, or during this session anyway, it’s clear that there are definite links and tie-in, and many of them are working towards the same ultimate goal coming at it from different angles, which is one of the reasons we want to take a little bit of time to make sure that as we move forward we link all those together so that we are not duplicating functions and we are not duplicating initiatives, that we are trying to work together for the best use of money for the best of the people of the...

Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Member for the question. I would like to echo the Member’s comments in congratulations to the steering committee for all the incredible hard work they did, but also the working group who was involved from the beginning as well. They’ve done a wonderful job, but it is just the beginning, Mr. Speaker.

As I did say in my comments earlier today, we will be working on action plans over the summer months. There are a number of frameworks that have been released over this short session and all of them tie together to some degree, so we need to work together as a...

Mr. Speaker, we are not above the law. We are not above the law. As MLAs we are bound by the laws just like every other citizen. We don’t have the right, nor should we, to break the law so that we can get information that has action part and parcel of a third party. That third party may say yes, MLA Dolynny can look at that contract. We are willing to ask, once the Member files an ATIPP request. Until such a time as that happens, we can’t do that. It would be against the law. I’m not going to change the law just so MLAs can have access to information that they probably shouldn’t have.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As MLAs, as Ministers we have a responsibility to protect the rights of privacies of individuals and organizations. We also have a responsibility to share information as much as we can with our colleagues. But there is a law. The ATIPP Act requires public bodies to protect the business interests of third parties, while balancing the right of the public to access information held by public bodies. Request for access to contract information is assessed against the protection afforded to third-party business interests contained within Section 24 of the act. This section...

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to this Assembly’s goal of helping our residents become and stay healthy, educated people free from poverty. A strong territory needs a strong society. All residents of the NWT should have the chance to enjoy the benefits of living in a prosperous, well-governed territory and to participate fully in a healthy, just society.

This is why the Premier committed last year to the development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy. At the appropriate time today, I will table the Strategic Framework towards the Elimination of Poverty in the NWT. This framework has been...