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GNWT wraps up community sessions on Bills 44 47 6 Tuesday May 5 2015 HEALTH WELLNESS LEGISLATION National Emergency Preparedness Week May 3 to 9 2015 Emergency preparedness is everyones responsibility. After a long cold winter residents want to head outside to enjoy the warmer weather. Its also a time to remind residents of the importance of being personally prepared. In springtime there is an increased risk to residents from unpredictable weather and melting ice and snow. Dont let spring enjoyment turn into tragedy. There are many things you can do to be prepared make a plan make a kit check the weather forecast and tell people where you are going and when you will be back. Be prepared and enjoy your springtime activities p o Be p yo Robert C. McLeod Minister Municipal and Community Affairs For more information and resources about emergency preparedness or to enter the Emergency Preparedness Week Contest visit www.maca.gov.nt.ca. By DALI CARMICHAEL After spending several weeks on the road the GNWTs Standing Committee on Social Programs wrapped up public hearings seek- ing input on two new bills last week. Chaired by Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Al- fred Moses the committee simultaneously took comments on Bill 44 An Act to Amend the Hospital Insurance and Health and So- cial Services Administration Act and Bill 47 An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act. I think this is the rst time that any com- mittee has taken two signicant bills on the road for public hearings Moses said. It was really neat in that sense that if somebody from the public came out to discuss Bill 47 they were educated about Bill 44 and they gave some input and vice versa. Along the way similar concerns for each bill cameupinthevariouscommunitiesMosessaid. Bill 47 An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act Bill 47 specically proposes improvements totheChildandFamilyServicesActwhichre- ceived a scathing review by the auditor general lastyear.Itprovidesanewdenitionforyouth allowing those in the system to access to ser- vices until the age of 23. It also proposes a new maximum time period for temporary custody andrequiresthateverychildyouthandparent be notied of his or her right to legal counsel. It also calls for expanded roles for child and familyservicescommitteesaswellastheduty tonotifyAboriginalgovernmentswheneverAb- original children are apprehended from their communities. Finally itrequires amandatory review of the act every ve years. Most of the people who came out to the meetings to address Bill 47 including family members youth and frontline social work- ers were in support of it though many were wary of its practical potential without fur- ther amendments to the child care system. Thenumberoneconcernwiththisbillwas asgoodasitlooksonpaperitwouldnotbeeffec- tiveifthecommunitiesdidntgettheresources thatareneededtoensurethatthebestchildcare servicesareprovidedaswellasthesupportsys- tems for the families Moses said. The focus was mostly on ensuring com- munities have enough outreach and social workers in their regions to effectively deliver programming. The scope of necessary human resources has not yet been determined Moses said the gures would likely be calculated in the next stage of the bill. Thetalksalsoopenedupabroaddiscussion onthehealthandsocialservicessystemMoses said. Attendees at the hearings addressed the need for a holistically functioning system ac- knowledgingthatimprovementsintheareasof justiceandhousingwouldservetoelevatemuch of the work done by Child and Family Services. Mosesexpectsthenextgovernmenttoaccom- modatethoseresourceneedsinthe2016budget. The way we see it is we think the bill is not putting the cart before the horse Moses said. Wethinkitssettingupthepathwayinthedirec- tionthatchildandfamilyservicesneedstogo. Bill 44An Act to Amend the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act Bill 44 allows for the amalgamation of the territorys seven different regional boards into one centralized establishment. The amended act would require the minister to develop a territorial plan for health and social services and would authorize the minister to establish regional councils. Communitiesacrosstheterritoryexpressed concerns over having their views represented by the new territorial health board for which Moses said regional boards would be estab- lished to act as mediators between local and territorial authorities. Citizens also vocalized concerns over potential job losses through the amalgamation though Health and Social Ser- vicesMinisterGlenAbernethyhassaidthiswill not be that case according to Moses. Thecommunitythatwasperhapsthemost concernedwithBill44wasHayRiver.TheHay River Health and Social Services Authority HRHSS is somewhat of an anomaly in the territorys medical system because its staff are not considered GNWT employees. At the rst committee meeting in Yellowknife the Union of Northern Workers stated its concern that the bill was being rushed and threatened legal action unless their members benets were protected as their employer changed. The minister said he was still in negotia- tions with HRHSS Moses said. Once their collective agreement is expired they will work on making sure they are included in the public service and that no length of service no pen- sions and no benets would be lost. Abernethyhasstatedhewillallowanexten- sion for HRHSS to join the legislation to allow for the proper execution of negotiations. According to Moses the intent is to get the bills passed before the election to make sure they dont drop off the table and to allow for their implementation in April 2016. Though the tour is over concerned citi- zens have until May 15 to write to the com- mittee about any issues theyd like addressed regarding the two bills. An ofcial report with the ndings from the committees tour will be available within the next month. The Standing Committee on Social Programs hosts a public hearing on Bills 44 and 47 in Fort Simpson on Apr. 22. The committee is made up of Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses and Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro. PhotocourtesyoftheGNWT