Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I realize that the previous program attempted to serve both populations. We have seniors in both populations. So a program that serves only one group of needs and not the other group of needs is necessarily going to be incomplete. I caution the Minister that, if he chooses to serve one group and not another group, there will be lots of questions from myself and others about why one group has been left out. I don't know if he wants to respond to that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when the standing committee reviewed the business plan, we made a recommendation that the department look at developing a safe house pilot project so that communities that don't have family violence shelters, which is most of the communities in the NWT, would have a place that women and children, primarily women and children, could flee in the event that they needed to for their safety. I'm wondering if the Minister has given any consideration to developing this idea along with the NWT Housing Corporation? We thought that it could be dual-purpose; it could...

It is my understanding that the additional staff relieve the Public Guardian when she is unavailable because of training or annual leave. It is not my understanding that there is any more than one social worker working in that office at any given time. Can the Minister please confirm that?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I recognize that the Minister said that they were going to provide for those with the greatest needs. Could he tell us what that means? How are they defining the greatest needs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the country food strategy, is that a health and social services initiative? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I said in my statement, the caseload for the Public Guardian is completely unmanageable because of the number of public and private guardianship orders she needs to supervise. My question for the Minister is: when does the Minister plan to increase the number of staff who work directly with clients? Mahsi.

Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pursue this separately so that the Minister has the opportunity to see the relevant section of Hansard.

My next question has to do with the forthcoming mental health action plan. Is there money in this budget that is specifically designated for the implementation of this action plan? Thank you.

Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am going to move on now to the Anti-Poverty Fund. In this current fiscal year, the Minister had a study of the process of applying for the Anti-Poverty Fund money, and he committed to sharing the results of that review at the Anti-Poverty Round Table at the end of November. I don't recall seeing that social development. My question is: can the Minister share the results of the Anti-Poverty Fund process review with the standing committee? Thank you.