Glen Abernethy

The draft operational standards have been developed and are being reviewed to ensure they represent the safest and most sustainable approach to the delivery of family violence shelters. Our goal is to formally adopt those service standards over the coming year, and as I indicated previously, these standards will help us formulate a formula for funding, because it has to be based on something. It should be based on the standards that we work together with our shelters to develop. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At this time, the formula that we are talking about is funding the shelters to actually provide safe housing for families fleeing violence.

With respect to the other work, campaigns that we are doing to break the stigma, to help get people educated, to create more awareness, to create more discussion, those are being done with other groups, such as the Status of Women and other groups across the Northwest Territories and, at this point, does not anticipate providing advertising or communication dollars to the shelters. With the shelters, we are focusing on housing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a constituent of the Great Slave riding, Mr. James Wong. Welcome.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Section 28 of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table the following document entitled "2018-19 Health and Social Services Authority Budgets;" and, pursuant to Section 32(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table the following document entitled "Annual Report 2016-2017: Tlicho Community Services Agency." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I sent a letter to committee earlier this week with a complete outline of the advertising and communications that we are doing to get some of that information out there, but I am happy to share a copy of that letter with the Member as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have those exact figures in front of me, but I am happy to pull that information together and share it with the Member and committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I have indicated, we have a large number of assets in the Department of Health and Social Services that are in the 20-year needs assessment. We try to move forward on those facilities based on the need and the demand and the safety and whether or not we can provide safe services out of the existing buildings. Based on our assessment, we are comfortable that we can provide safe services under the facility in Tsiigehtchic. It is on the 20-year plan, but it's not within, I'm going to have to verify when it actually falls in. I think it is 20 something, so it is in the 20s.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Member did bring this to my attention literally minutes after the issue occurred, and they did move the staff and the equipment to the college, so I would really like to thank the college for standing up and helping us out with this. I did get an update from the Department of Infrastructure, and they did have an engineer go in this month to do an assessment, and they have indicated that the building is structurally sound and that it is being levelled right now. It is structurally sound, and the life is going to continue. We are hoping to be in...

Just to provide some clarity to the last response, of course, we are working with the shelters, because they usually have a significant impact on supporting families that are dealing with or fleeing violence. They have certainly got a lot of information to help us get good information out there into their hands, but when it comes to some of the individual programs we are running to create that awareness, currently, we are investing $477,000 as a territory for campaigns like What Will It Take and other means to get the information out there. We do work with the shelters closely because they are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we continue to work on the development of the funding model that we hope will strengthen the ability of existing shelters to deliver services in an equitable manner throughout the Northwest Territories.

The department does remain in close contact with the shelter network about the work being done, and hearing their perspectives on that process and the formula, as well. Department staff did attend meetings with the shelter staff within the last couple of weeks, where we had an opportunity to discuss the formula, as well as the operational standards.

Mr...