Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to say I agree with much of what Ms. Cochrane said. You know, we all know people who you would like to get help for, but they're not in a position where they want to go get help. You know, it's such a difficult situation when you look at it, when you know those kinds of people. When you walk downtown. So what do we do? Is it the aftercare? Is it the treatment? No, I agree that it is mental health, but how do we provide that? How do we get there early enough?

This is one of those issues that is so broad, that cuts across so many government departments, that it needs the participation of the Indigenous governments and the community, the community governments, families, everyone involved. So, if this is something that this Assembly wants to tackle, I would like to see us do it whole-heartedly. You know, I know there are mental health and addiction strategies, but are those effective? Have we seen a decrease? We still have the worst rates in the country, basically. Probably some of the worst rates in the developed world.

We can't do this by half measures. If we want to go in, we have to go all in. That's why next week is going to be tough. We want infrastructure projects, but we want to help people, as well. Mental health, there are a lot of communities, there are a lot of mental health workers. There are a lot of communities, there is a lot of aftercare. There's a lot of housing that we need.

I commend Salt River with partnering with Poundmaker's. I think they have a great program, and maybe that's something we need to do more of, is going to the people who know how to provide treatment and partnering with them. Because the GNWT, more and more I wonder whether or not we need to rely on their expertise. Sometimes we need to go outside and partner with people who are actually doing this work.

So it's a big question. There are a lot of moving parts, and it's going to take a bit commitment. Do I have a plan? No. Does anyone here really have a plan? No, it's going to take more than just us in the room to come up with a plan and really address this, but just take a walk down the street and you'll see why it needs to be done. Thank you, Mr. Chair.