Wendy Bisaro

Thanks to the Minister for that. I move we report progress.

---Carried

Thanks to the Minister for the clarification. I understand it better now and I have no further questions. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for that. I’m really glad to hear that there’s a commitment on the part of the GNWT and I’m also glad to hear that it’s more than one department that is involved, because in order for this project to be successful, it will involve more than just the Health department. Housing and Justice for sure have to be in there.

To make this program successful, there needs to be services for the homeless. Once they are housed, there needs to be services in order to assist them with the other things that have created their homelessness.

I’d like to know from the Minister, will the...

Mr. Chair, my other question has to do with the day shelters. We certainly have a day shelter here in the City of Yellowknife. I believe there’s at least one other day shelter elsewhere in another community. One of the things that were a problem when the Day Shelter was previously operated under another operator was a lack of programming. We kind of touched on this earlier, but what analysis has the department done with this new operator? There was a bit of a lull where the Day Shelter was not operating, and I think it was an opportunity to do some analysis and to do an evaluation of the...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I just have one question here. It has to do with the amounts for the health and social service authorities funding. The amount has increased from ‘14-15 revised estimates to the main estimates for this year ‘15-16 and that’s all well and good. I appreciate that costs have increased. Over the years we have had considerable conversations about the expenses and the expenditures incurred by various health and social service authorities. There have been three or four authorities that regularly overspend their budgets and there have been great discussions about why they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we heard yesterday during opening comments for the Health and Social Services department and from speakers already today, the NWT lacks adequate mental health services, and we’re not alone. Across Canada, every jurisdiction faces the same problem.

Those who suffer from mental illness are found in all parts of our society. Some are affected in a minor way, others are severely debilitated, and we struggle with how to treat every one of them.

Sufferers of mental illness are often hidden, but many we also see every day. Perhaps the most visible are the homeless. Statistics...

Thanks to the Minister. One of the concerns that I have, and it was a fairly major recommendation from the Child and Family Services Act review that was done in the 16th Assembly and it’s been mentioned a number of times in this Assembly as well, is the gap in legislation for coverage for youths basically between 16 and 18 years. First of all, I’d like to ask the Minister if that gap is going to be dealt with in the amendments, and if so, I find it hard to believe that we could increase the services for this particular age group and that it’s not going to cost us money. Could I get an...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other piece of legislation is the Health and Social Services Professions Act. It’s anticipated to be in place during this budget year, so there’s also anticipated to be some costs around that. So where is that reflected? Thank you.

Thanks. I did say it was my last question. It is my last question, but I guess I have to spar with the Minister. We’re talking budget here and I asked about the budget. So there is no increase in the budget for Healthy Family Programs? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. That’s what I was trying to get at. I mean, a budget is an estimate document, and I was hoping that the Minister could give me an idea whether in ’16-17 the department is anticipating any savings.

There are two acts which will be coming into force in the next little while, certainly within this next budget year. Maybe I should ask the question first. Should I be asking about costs associated with legislation that’s going to be implemented here, or does it come elsewhere?