Jane Groenewegen

As a result of the things that I’ve shared here today, and my colleagues have shared here today, I would like to see this government come out with a statement saying that they recognize and appreciate the valued work of NGOs in our territory, and that those NGOs go towards making this territory and the lives of many people better than they would be, and that this government cannot do everything alone, and that we support, encourage and thank those NGOs who do this work for us. Can this government send a message like that out? Thank you.

Could I get the Minister to concur that this NGO does do good and valuable work in our community, and the value of their work far exceeds the $35,000 a year which they get from this government and our given grief that goes along with it? Can the Minister concur this is valuable work worth far more than what they receive from this government? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a constituent from Hay River South, Mr. Tim Coleman, in the gallery today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about an NGO in Hay River. It is the Hay River Council for Persons with Disabilities.

I would like to take my hat off to this organization, who has been faced with many challenges and yet continues to persist in their efforts to assist the people in our community who have disabilities. They do this in spite of not very much help from this government. As a matter of fact, I would say this government discouraged their efforts.

This small group of people gets $35,000 from this government. For that, they employ a half-time person, but what they also do is...

I would like to thank Minister Beaulieu for his visit to Hay River, for taking time out of his busy schedule, for going there and seeing the facility these folks were in, for listening to them, for hearing what their challenges were and what they were offering the community, and he did express great support. I have to say that and I want to thank him for that.

How can we translate that, as Mr. Beaulieu heads up the Department of Health and Social Services, how can that commitment and support for an NGO translate down to the people who actually deliver that support within the public service? How...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure who to ask my questions to and I am not even sure what to ask at this stage. You can tell I am a little frustrated with the lack of support for some very valuable NGOs. I don’t think we have really quantified the value that NGOs bring to a situation. If we as a government had to pay for the work that they do, we probably wouldn’t realize the same results and we probably couldn’t afford it.

The council that I refer to in Hay River is the Council for Persons with Disabilities. They teach literacy counselling; they fundraised $50,000 in the community to...

Mr. Speaker, I too will be supporting this motion as it is brought forward today. When we think of the agonizing role that parents play sometimes in trying to find solutions and comfort children that are being bullied in school, we figuratively say it is criminal. Mr. Speaker, it should be, literally, criminal. We should not allow young people to do things to each other that adults could not do to each other.

When you see the harm that is brought about by bullying, we need to take it to a different level. It is time to stop saying kids will be kids, or turning a blind eye to this. This should...

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the Minister spoke of 33 positions, 65 applicants. Where are the 33 positions? Are they distributed throughout the Northwest Territories at regional centres and other locations, or are they all in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on the questions asked by my colleague from Hay River North with regard to what seems to be a problem with graduating students who are born, raised and educated in the North and then seek post-secondary education under our Student Financial Assistance Program. We back them all the way, but when they get back here, it seems that whatever policies we have in place, they are fantastic on paper and even some of the statistics that the Minister quoted today sound very good, but there must be something lost in translation, just by the sheer number of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what would be involved in proclaiming a day of recognition for families who have lost children that were yet unborn, children that are born stillbirth and children that are lost to sudden infant death syndrome. What would be involved in our government when we declare a day as a day of remembrance or a day to recognize something like this? What’s involved? Thank you.