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6 Tuesday October 6 2015 POLITICS NWT LEGISLATURE NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION WEEK Remember fire safety starts with you. It is National Fire Prevention Week. Residents across the territory are being reminded that this is an important time of year to ensure you and your family are protected against the threat of fire. Checking or installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and ensuring your heating devices are maintained and inspected by a professional are essential steps in ensuring the safety of your home. Parents and their children are encouraged to fill out a Home Fire Safety Checklist which once completed will make your home safer and allow you to enter your name in the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs Fire Prevention Week contest. Entries for the contest can be made at www.maca.gov.nt.ca until October 30 2015. Robert C. McLeod Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. 684-118E NN NJ www.auroracollege.nt.ca Fire Prevention Week 2015 Theme Every bedroom needs a working smoke alarm Aurora College would like to thank all professional and volunteer fire fighters whoworktirelesslytokeep our communities safe. We appreciate your service. NWT MLAs return for busy eight-day session By CRAIG GILBERT OnSept.28FrameLakeMLAWendyBisaro said student nancial assistance SFA pre- vented a mother from spending Christmas with her children last year. It was one of two cases she heard of over the summer that convinced her that the SFA rules needsomeattention.Thestudentinthiscasewas asinglemomfromtheNWTstudyinginAlberta. Single students can return at Christmas and at the beginning and the end of a school year but not so students with dependents Bisaro said. So this student who could not afford a ticket to come home spent Christmas by herself without the company of her kids and other family members. I struggle might- ily Mr. Speaker to see the logic in the Student Financial Assistance decision in this case. She said a straight dollar limit on SFA travel would have allowed the student to travel at Christmas and make adjustments to move the children at the end of the school year. Consensus government opaque says Bromley Outgoing Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley won- ders whether cabinet has any use for regular members of the Legislature after learning about two major government issues along with the general public. It would appear that our presence here is superuous as its apparent that Cabinet nei- therrequiresnorwelcomesourinputintomat- ters of state that we are an annoyance to be swatted away like a mosquito or we are to be best treated like mushrooms kept in the dark and well fed he said Sept. 28. There appears to be clear and deliberate intent to bypass any involvement of MLAs in the decision-making processthattheprinciplesofconsensusgovern- ment dene and all of us are sworn to uphold. Mental Health Act goes to committee TheGNWTs30-year-oldMentalHealthAct isastepclosertobeingreplacedasproposedleg- islation passed a second reading was advanced to standing committee work last week. Therearegapsinourcurrentmentalhealth system and residents are falling through the cracks Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy said as he presented the bill. Its clear that change is urgently needed and the time is now. This legislation will ll those gaps and modernize the current mental health framework.Toprotecttherightsofpatientsand those acting on their behalf the bill includes modern and comprehensive rights for patients and their substitute decision-makers. Bisaro said she is looking forward to work- ing on the bill in committee. There are many of our residents who dont get the treatment they need because the cur- rent Mental Health Act is outdated she said. Does the GNWT need an ombudsman Bisaro said on Wednesday she intends to table a draft act to establish an ombuds- mans ofce for the GNWT which she said MLAs have been mulling since the 1990s. She said her draft bill addressed one of the excuses used by cabinet for avoiding start- ing the groundwork to create the oversight ofce in the past. It may not be perfect she said it may not reect precisely how an NWT ombuds- man ofce would operate but the ground- work has been done. It can be with political will presented for the rst reading during the winter 2016 sitting of the 18th Legisla- tive Assembly. Shesaidanombudsmansofcewouldbean avenue of last resort for members of the public with concerns for the government in a num- ber of areas including landlord-tenant issues outside the jurisdiction of the rental ofce and housing or income support. Dolynny premier spar on protected lands strategy RangeLakeMLADarylDolynnyquestioned Premier Bob McLeod on the recently released protected areas draft action plan which caught industry groups including the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines by surprise. The recent draft Protected Areas Strategy has been deemed by some as a clear indication of this governmentwe are closed forbusiness. McLeodstressedtheplanisstillonlyadraft and that the GNWT was working with a very large group in developing this draft plan so it shouldnt have been a surprise to anybody. GNWT posts fourth surplus in a row Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger said last week the GNWT posted a 120-million surplus in 2014 the fourth in a row. However this is not enough he said in the Legislature.Thepublicaccountswillalsoshow thatournetdebthasincreased37million.This meanswecontinuetorelyonshort-termdebtto payforourcapitalexpendituresandweremain in a cash decit position. In 2015-2016 we will continue to meet our scal challenges in spite of extraordinary expenditure pressures result- ingfromresuppressionactivityandlowwater levels at our Snare hydro system. There appears to be a clear and deliberate intent to bypass any involvement of MLAs in the decision- making process. Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley