R.J. Simpson

The Member is sort of jumping around with her questions, topic to topic, but that's okay. I get where she's coming from; it all ties together in the end. Right now, the government has a mandate to advance universal childcare, and that's what we are working on. We are going to be making some advances in determining just how we are going to do that, and we are going to be making those advances in the coming months.

As for right now, standing up here and saying universal childcare at Aurora College, I can't say that. I would love to be able to say it, but we're not there yet. The fact is, there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize and congratulate Max and Julia Trennert, who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today. Max and Julia first met 61 years ago in Inuvik. He was working as a surveyor and also managing the Mackenzie Hotel. She was a student at the time. They say it was love at first sight.

Max and Julia were married on February 5, 1960, in Inuvik. That's also where their first three children were born. From Inuvik, they moved to Fort Simpson, where their fourth child, Brendalynn, who most of us know, was born. Max and Julia then relocated close to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think a feedback loop is the most important thing in terms of communication. We have to know what the people on the front line are thinking. That's where the expertise lies in the day-to-day operations, and if we don't have that, this is all for naught. This is going to fail. If someone feels like they are not being heard, they can talk to their supervisor. If that's where the problem is, you can talk to the union. If you still feel like you're not being heard, talk to the ADM. If that doesn't get you anywhere, talk to the deputy minister. This is actually what the...

I think communication causes most problems, not just in corrections, but everywhere. Lack of communication really leads to misunderstandings; it leads to problems not being resolved. The first thing that happened after this report came out is that senior staff, senior management, went to the different facilities. They presented this information, and they listened to the staff to hear what they had to say directly, not through a consultant. From that, they are compiling a "what we heard" report so that they can then distribute it to staff and say, "Are we hearing you correctly?" Because...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for her persistent advocacy on behalf of her constituents. This is a very concerning situation with some history. The Member's statement was quite a retort to my statement, and it explained the long history of this. I will not be tabling that report. When this report was initiated, the staff were told that it would be kept confidential.

While there was obviously a risk of it being released once it was distributed to all staff and to other parties, that was a risk that we knew we had to take. Despite the fact that it is publicly available, I will...

Again, I don't have those specific numbers. I am not sure how this is being funded. Perhaps it's out of the current budget that there have been some savings on travel, for example, so maybe that is what is funding this. I am not quite sure, but I can find that out and let the Member know.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for his continued advocacy on this topic. I agree that people need to be able to access the government, and they should be able to access it in their own language. The Member is correct that we do have an action plan, and it has some items related to this.

In a broad sense, there are a number of initiatives that the government is undertaking. There is a mentor-apprentice program whereby fluent speakers, such as the Member, would apprentice a younger -- it doesn't have to be younger, necessarily, but someone who doesn't speak the language. There...

Mr. Speaker, corrections can be a difficult and challenging field. In addition to the demanding environment and 24/7 operations, the Corrections Service must always adapt to the ever-evolving best practices. Five years ago, the Auditor General gave us a path forward to address conditions that focused on our case management and programs for offenders, and as a result, significant changes have been made. This summer, a new Corrections Act will come into force signaling a shift towards a greater focus on rehabilitation and reintegration, and enhancing transparency and accountability of...

There is an overarching framework here that is going to guide how we move forward. Under that, there is a communications plan, so everyone knows how people are going to communicated with. The "what we heard" report is really when the management went out in December and talked to staff. They put together a report saying, "This is what we heard. Are we hearing you correctly?"

Those are all different documents. There are a number of moving parts here. I'm happy to keep the committee updated to the best that I can. There are some operational and security sensitivities with things like the framework...

The Member is right to be sceptical. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't; none of us would. Governments say lots of things, and sometimes they don't happen. I don't know if there is anything I could say that would assure me as a Regular Member. It has to be proven. We have to actually do the work. We have to come back on a regular basis and show that we're doing the work, and that's really the only way to prove ourselves.

I will note that there was one difference, something that's never been done before. That is that this is not just an effort of the department, and it's not just an effort of...