Julie Green

I am advocating $100,000 out of a $1.7 billion budget. I am talking about half the population. I am talking about making people safe. We need to address this problem in more effective ways. What we are doing is not addressing the root causes of family violence. So my question to the Minister is: is she willing to make a commitment to look at a systemic fix to family violence? The information for that would be provided by a new family violence survey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. I have spoken a couple of times now about the need to update the family violence survey. It was last done 10 years ago. In the June session, the Minister said that she thought the survey was a valuable tool and she would advocate for funds to do a new one. How is that going? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is time for us to get serious about reducing rates of family violence and to work in smart and consistent ways to ensure every NWT resident hears the message that women are equals, that violence is not inevitable, and it is preventable. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. How is the Minister going to prevent family violence going forward? Thank you.

I didn't realize that responses to questions were also a rebuttal time, but that is good to know. What I have asked the Minister for and she said she can't afford is a commitment to redoing the family violence survey. She said that it was a valuable tool, and she said she would advocate for funds to redo it.

How about just taking half the Cabinet to Vancouver? That would free up $100,000, which is what the family violence survey cost last time. How about taking $100,000 out of the infrastructure budget? There are a number of ways that a hundred thousand dollars can be found very readily by this...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to today to acknowledge my constituent Lydia Bardak. Ms. Bardak is the North Slave region Wise Woman award winner for 2017. Ms. Bardak came north to work with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Work with a blind prisoner led her into the career she is best known for, executive director of the John Howard Society. Ms. Bardak made a strong connection with the street population and remains an effective advocate for them in the justice system. Congratulations to Lydia Bardak for this well-deserved award. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following the discussion that took place in this House yesterday, I am renewing my call for the Minister for the Status of Women to repeat the survey of attitudes toward family violence. It is clear that we 19 Members do not share a common understanding of what family violence is, and I suspect that we are representative of the territory as a whole. The information the survey will produce is fundamental to creating policy and programs that reduce rates of family violence.

The mandate for the 18th Assembly calls on us to take action on the crisis of family...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and just a quick thanks to the staff for drafting this on the fly. Mr. Chair, I move that Committee Motion 91-18(2) as contained in Committee Report 7-18(2): Report on the Review of the Members' Conduct Guidelines and the proposed amendment thereto be referred to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for further consideration in accordance with Rule 58(e). Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I am not sure about how the procedure would work here. I wonder if we could amend the amendment to refer this motion back to the Rules and Procedures Committee to take on the task of defining exceptional circumstances and to bring that recommendation back after that work is considered. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of funding for junior kindergarten and other options for families.

Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 184 electronic signatures of Northwest Territories residents and, Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment provide flexible, real choices for parents of four-year-olds by ensuring that all options for children are properly funded and that the money follows the child in whatever option is chosen. The petitioners also ask the Minister to fully fund junior...