Delivered October 3, 2017

Mr. Speaker, since 2013, September 30^th has been marked as Orange Shirt Day, a day for all Canadians to remember the survivors of the residential school system.

Organizers chose an orange shirt as the symbol for that day based on a story told by Phyllis Jack Webstat, a survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, BC. In her story, Ms. Webstat tells of having the shiny, new orange shirt her grandmother had given to her being taken away on her first day at residential school.

Delivered on September 28, 2017

Mr. Speaker, last November, I tabled Mind and Spirit: Promoting Mental Health and Addictions Recovery in the Northwest Territories, our government’s strategic framework for addressing this critical issue for Northerners.

Delivered on September 26, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that later today, I will be tabling the Continuing Care Services Action Plan.

The Continuing Care Services Action Plan builds on the seven priorities of the 2014 Strategic Framework, Our Elders: Our Communities, and on our mandate commitment to take action so that NWT Seniors can age in place and live in their own homes and communities for as long possible.

We are also committed to ensuring that adequate supports are available for those who can no longer do so.

Delivered on September 22, 2017

Delivered on September 20, 2017

Mr. Speaker, the priorities of the 18^th Legislative Assembly include a commitment to take action so that Seniors can age in place.  Our government’s mandate builds on this priority by committing the Department of Health and Social Services to complete a projection of programming needs; develop updated capital plans to address the need for long-term care beds, and to develop a regulatory framework and financing options that will allow us to meet the growing demand for long-term care in the Northwest Territories.

YELLOWKNIFE (September 12, 2017) – The Minister of Health and Social Services, Glen Abernethy, announced that the government has signed a lease for a long-term location of the Yellowknife Day Shelter and Yellowknife Sobering Centre. The building is located at 5111 50^th Street.

Finding a location for the Yellowknife Sobering Centre which can also support the Day Shelter program has been a priority of the Government of Northwest Territories. The new location was chosen after assessing 22 potential sites in order to find a suitable location.

FORT SMITH (September 11, 2017) – A community-based mobile addictions pilot program is being delivered in Fort Smith that is responding to a need identified by elders and community members for culturally-safe addictions programming. The program is made possible by a collaboration between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Salt River First Nation (SFRN) and Poundmaker’s Lodge Treatment Centres, which is a facility of excellence with a long standing history of supporting NWT residents in their healing.

YELLOWKNIFE (September 5, 2017) – Premier Bob McLeod today announced the appointment of Bruce Cooper as the Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services (HSS) for the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).

Mr. Cooper comes to the GNWT from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (GNL) with over a decade of experience as an executive in the public service, including five years as Deputy Minister of Health and Community Services. He is currently Deputy Minister of the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development for the GNL.

Yellowknife (August 4, 2017) - Minister Abernethy issued the following statement on arsenic signage in the Yellowknife Area:

“Protecting the health and safety of Northerners is a priority for me and I am committed to making sure that everybody who lives in or visits Yellowknife has the information they need to confidently and safely enjoy the many outdoor recreational activities available here. 

YELLOWKNIFE (July 28, 2017) – The GNWT has introduced two important changes to the Vital Statistics Act that promote inclusion and respect:  the ability to use single names based on traditional culture, and changing the sex designation on a birth certificate to better reflect gender identity.

Single traditional name as legal name

NWT residents can now use single traditional names as their legal name, as long as it is based on their traditional culture.