Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off, I want to thank all the committee members on this side of the House for their very rich and important and thoughtful comments. Mr. Speaker, a couple of them I want to highlight.

First of all, I'll start with the Member on my left, for Range Lake. These are the types of issues on his agenda, constantly raising with committee, trying to support community members. You know, and I often hear him say he recognizes the Mackenzie Delta Member who's dealing with his challenges in his community. I hear the Member from the Sahtu talk about the community impacts that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the rate of violent crime is on the rise in the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP have publicly acknowledged the link between drugs and unprecedented homicides in the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP have publicly stated they appear to be the only resource to deal with mental health emergencies;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP responding to a mental health crisis is time consuming and uses significant valuable RCMP resources that could be managed by a worker trained to respond to mental health crises;

AND WHEREAS support for Northwest Territories-trained...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I raise the issue of the Saskatchewan First Nations offered a program, and I guess I would say to the Minister that, you know, is something like this in general -- could this be worked into contribution agreements whereas in the GNWT works with the department of education through the Department of Finance under contribution agreements to find ways to bring NGOs supportive training up to a higher standard than what we're currently offering them, which is, you know, one-offs from time to time. So in other words -- allowing the Minister to get a second there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about training supports for shelter workers.

Mr. Speaker, finding ways to help de-escalate violence for shelter workers who work on the frontline is a goal of mine, and I'm sure it's supported by many of our colleagues here. We would like to see the de-escalation of violence long before it gets out of hand and the RCMP have to be called or anyone certainly gets hurt. And on that note, Mr. Speaker, from the RCMP they had mentioned that over 2,268 calls to shelters in Yellowknife over a period of two years, that's April 2022 to April 2024, of those...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Frame Lake, that the Committee Report 820(1), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Committee's Initiative of a Project to Conduct a Review of the Land and Water Use Permitting Regulatory Framework, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize a constituent. She's well known to all of us. It's Ms. Sarah Cleary. She's not only one of our wonderful and dependable translators who's served the House for so many years, she's also known as the sewer extraordinaire. So anyway, thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to wish her well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to present to the House Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentions, first of all, the SCIP program. Yes, but it's very limited funding and, hence, when it only creates one or two openings there's still dozens on dozens of parents struggling to find support. And if you don't have a fantastic employer who's supportive of your challenges, you have to take days off. And if you have an employment position, such as a very unique one or professional, you can't take time off sometimes; that's just the nature of your work. So, Mr. Speaker, my question is is would the Minister be willing to meet with the group of parents...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe just a quick comment before I get into my question. I think Members are restraining some of their questions to help the process move along, so. Maybe not all of course. That said, Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with respect to autism supports and programming.

Mr. Speaker, parents have to cover PD days, daycare, afterschool program times, and summer programs, and it's having impacts on families and the relationships of friends and supporters. And I'm going to ask the Minister of education what can she do to further...