Wendy Bisaro

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Yes, affordability in Yellowknife is the major issue in housing and in my community. At this point, I looked at the NWT Housing Corp website. There’s no indication that this program will end.

So I’d like to know from the Minister, it’s been two years, what are the intentions of the Housing Corp? How long will this program continue? Do they intend to continue it and for how long? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. So, if I understood the Minister correctly, that’s 68 or 70 out of a possible 150. That’s unfortunate. I would have hoped that the program would be oversubscribed.

I’d like to ask the Minister, when is the two-year anniversary date of this program and will the Housing Corporation be doing a formal review, a formal evaluation of the program at that time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we know, the 2015 Canada Winter Games is currently in full swing in Prince George. In addition to the 2,400 athletes participating over the next two weeks, the Games are expected to attract as many as 20,000 visitors.

Our NWT contingent I know will be great ambassadors for the territory, and like my colleague did yesterday, I want to acknowledge the individuals from Frame Lake who are representing the NWT in Prince George. There aren’t quite as many as there were from Range Lake, but they are certainly just as worthy.

Emily Paddock and Dakota Earle are with our female...