Julie Green

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 for that confirmation. I don't really have any further questions on this point. I have a comment that there will need to be, I think, some help for the YWCA to continue the Transitional Housing Program, but I realize that it is not covered in this supp. Thank you.

That's a trick question because the page now looks different.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the barges are in crisis, there is money to be found immediately, and the problem is on its way to resolution. Now that we are in the fourth year of this Assembly, the Minister is making a business case for more resources for family violence. I can't say it's too little, too late. Everything is appreciated, but the fact is that this area needs serious attention. It needs new initiatives, and I'm looking for a commitment for the Minister of action, not just talking. Is he able to make that commitment? Mahsi.

The Minister can find the report in the library, or I can lend him my copy, and he can have a read of it. What I hear him saying is that he's going to create an echo chamber of government departments speaking to one another rather than consulting with people who are front-line service providers or who have a stake in this system as victims, as batterers, and so on. Why can't this work include a broader array of people than simply having people within government talk to one another?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have the nursing and social work students here, in the House, today. I would particularly like to recognize Jordan Erickson, Jody Prince, and Candice Ferdinand who are joining us today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Government of the Northwest Territories has supported the YWCA with a grant in kind by making the Rockhill Apartment available through the Transitional Housing Program, and it is my understanding that this grant in kind has been deleted because the building burned down. Could the Minister confirm that is the case?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, under Community Health Programs, I see that there's an expenditure to provide funding for an extension of a grant in-kind related to the renewal of the lease with the Young Women's Christian Association for the Rock Hill Apartments. Can the Minister give us an update on the status of that grant in-kind, given the fact that the building has burned down? Thank you.

This work is so important that, in the last three years, the budget has increased by 5 percent or $172,000. On what basis is the Minister treating this crisis as a crisis?