Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, community people and leaders of the Legislative Assembly are all aware of the problems that exist with substance abuse. I just want to say something about the community workers who
deal with this issue. It is a very frustrating problem. I'm told there are many problems that exist in dealing in this field. One of the frustrating problems that front line workers have is dealing with the Department of Social Services and their staff at the headquarters level.
It has to do with the policy that they follow in the field of alcohol and drugs. I am told that the Department of Social Services is following recommendations that were made at a conference in Fort Churchill, Manitoba in 1984. This is what their policy in dealing with alcohol and drugs is based on.
Since that time, Mr. Speaker, many people in the communities of the north have taken up sobriety and are working in the field of healing their communities and in alcohol and drug awareness. Since that time, there have been many conferences on alcohol and drugs and related problems. A lot of important discussions have taken place and a lot of recommendations have been made about how best to deal with these problems.
The community people that work in this field are basing their recommendations on real experiences at the community level and I feel they are not being listened to by the department. One of the general questions I have is why have these conferences when their directions and recommendations are not taken seriously by officials in the Department of Social Services?
For example, last March when this House was still in the former building, there was a conference during session which I attended. I recall that many important recommendations on alcohol and drug treatment were made at that time. Since that time, a number of other workshops have taken place and again, recommendations have been made. Now, this week, there is another conference that was announced by the Minister...