Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that the shelters that we have now are having a hard time finding providers, so our focus for now has to be in strengthening the shelters that we have, but understanding that there are communities without shelters that need our assistance as well. We are providing and supporting that. We need to concentrate on that.

As to why we are seeing an increase in the number, I am sure we will have to do a more in-depth analysis on that, but the NWT has not been spared from the economic downtown. Often when there is economic downturn, lots of facts show that family violence...

Mr. Chairman, I’m assuming that the Member is referring to the bottom of page 8-17. That’s the block funding for the authorities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have that information in front of me. I will have to get back to the Member.

I appreciate his comments. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we are in the third phase of the Action Plan on Family Violence. Part of the plan is to have it evaluated. I will undertake to look at where we are with the evaluation and share it with the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, I could assure the Members that we are on the lookout for things like that. Had there been something that would have been more concrete, I would be sending the information well in advance. As the DM mentioned, this is something we are monitoring. I will report the progress to the Members as they become available. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a situation where a casual conversation between people at the official level was misinterpreted or it is being misread, Mr. Speaker. We have a longstanding tradition with Aurora College where we do fund some programs for them to train people that we need. It is not a normal practice for a department to fund 100 percent of all the programs that the Aurora College do. That is the responsibility of Education, Culture and Employment. It is a normal practice also. We can’t foresee exactly what funding is going to be in perpetuity. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have the information here on the capital and I don’t know where exactly Colville is, but I will look into that. I can tell you that as the department we’ve worked over the last fiscal year to put more focus on some of the small equipment that has fallen behind in the line-up using the regular process, and my colleagues have been positive in responding in that regard so that we can address some of the equipment issues in the health care system. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as the Member stated, the incumbent is away from the job for personal reasons. I need to inquire as to where that situation is. Secondly, that position cannot be filled by a casual because of the statutory obligations and requirements that need to be placed on a worker. That couldn’t be done for a casual, but if it is a situation that the person has to be away longer, we have to look at filling the position or filling it temporarily. Once again, I will undertake to look into that and get back to the Member. Thank you.

I would be happy to do that, but could the Member help us with a little bit more detail on what kind of information he’s looking for, because I hope that he can appreciate that there are lots of people spending a lot of time talking to authorities about financial information. Could I ask for some more detail on exactly what he’s looking for? Thank you.