Jane Groenewegen

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...

At a recent exchange between some members who represent departments who came down to Hay River to speak to these people who were saying you need to learn to say no, you need to refer these people to other places, you need to hold more fundraisers, in that same conversation they dared to mention that your Ministers have been down here and they have seen the hard work we’re doing, and they’re seeing what we’re doing and they’re supporting it. The response they got – and I want to put this on the public record, and this is referring to Mr. Lafferty and referring to Mr. Beaulieu – your Ministers...

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, this introduces a new element in this. So this is optional for departments to subscribe, I guess, to this program. If they have positions open within their department, it is up to them if they want to hire students or if they want to basically circumvent this student hiring program altogether. So the onus is on the departments to apply for these positions, and if that is the case, if they want someone with more experience, then they wouldn’t have to bother with this. Thank you.

Thank you. I would like to ask the Minister, is there not an opportunity for something to be lost in translation between what the department decides they want to do, the hiring department decides they want to do, and what the policy of this government is. Is there not an opportunity that there is a disconnect there? It would appear to be that way, from what I see.

Another question is: Are there any professions for which this government will guarantee a placement for when the student returns with a post-secondary degree or certificate? Thank you.

I’m not aware whether there is an actual developed and formed territorial organization as yet, but I’m sure that even by bringing the awareness to this in the House today there could very well be responses to this. We would be following suit of other jurisdictions in Canada, such as New Brunswick, which I mentioned, which have already taken the lead to do this. I don’t think it’s something that would be costly to the government and I’m not exactly sure how the proclamation of certain days is undertaken, but I would certainly encourage anybody who shares an interest in this topic of remembering...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is a day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death. Although this day is observed in many places around the world, it is still not well known. The Canadian Foundation for October 15th, known as CFO, is an official foundation leading the campaign to recognize October 15th as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in Canada.

The goal of the CFO is to obtain an official day of remembrance – October 15th of each year – to ensure that all Canadian families who experience the loss of a child during pregnancy or shortly...