Julie Green

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General found, as the Minister has said, that staff is overburdened with administrative work. The Minister's decision to engage in a system-wide accreditation exercise next year is going to increase that burden substantially at a time when the focus needs to be on building relationships with children and families. Will the Minister consider deferring this audit for at least a year?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I feel like the housing bilateral agreement is like the Sasquatch; there have been sightings, but no confirmation. We are all looking forward to seeing that.

It leads me to my next question. The question is whether the initiatives in the housing agreement will require matching or any amount of funding from the NWT government in the way that other infrastructure is being matched, 25 percent from GNWT, 75 percent from Ottawa. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is the Minister facing a deadline to make some decisions in order to free up the spending in the next fiscal year through this budget? Thank you.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I said in my statement yesterday on the Auditor General's report on Child and Family Services, the lack of staff and resources is a theme that runs through that report. This lack of resources is jeopardizing the safety of children and care. The Minister has committed to hiring more staff. Will he work with the Finance Minister to bring forward a supplementary appropriation before the end of this sitting? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Minister can find information on overcrowding in the 2014 Community Housing Survey. That is broken down by community, how many households in each community are experiencing overcrowding. That information is fairly easy to access.

As far as other initiatives to create more housing, could the Minister elaborate on what work is going on with the private sector? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have a firm grip on the timeline in which these changes are going to take place. What we've heard, in 2014 we heard it, in 2009 we heard it, in the year 2000, from the Child Welfare League is that these changes need to be made urgently. Children's lives are impacted by the decisions that are being made by the Minister and his officials. Given the urgency that is repeated yet again, how is the Minister going to ensure that, this time, the needs of children are going to be met? Mahsi.

The Minister can't have it both ways. He can't say that he's doing everything possible to help Child and Family Services, and then at the same time acknowledge that the Auditor General has again come up with another 11 recommendations that address children in jeopardy. These are not lightweight issues. They are the most, as my colleague from Hay River North said, "the most vulnerable people in our society." Many of these recommendations have been repeated. Why are we waiting another four years for the Minister to do what he already said he would do, to the Auditor General, in 2014?

Mr. Speaker, that means the Minister has heard this call to identify the resources needed to provide these services at least three times, and the problems not only persist, they are getting worse. The children who needed his help nine years ago are now adults or well on their way. It's worth remembering that these children, all children, have but one childhood. Our priority must be to help children not only survive it, but to thrive in safe and supportive environments. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I note that this is the biggest ever, apparently, Infrastructure budget, the bulk of which is going towards roads and the bulk of which is being driven by the federal government's shared-cost projects that are going on at the moment.

I recognize that these projects are an important generator of labour income in communities throughout the NWT, but it is not clear at all how much of that labour is NWT labour, especially given the scope and size of these projects. I wonder, as well, given that, whether it would make more sense to spread the money out. It seems as...

I think there's a misunderstanding here. The Minister knew about these problems in 2009. He knew about them in 2014. He's been reminded about them this week. My question is: when is the Minister going to show leadership on this issue? It is he who fights for the budget and argues over the spending priorities. Why, over all these years, has he been unable to make the business case to adequately finance Child and Family Services?