Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My comments today are in relation to the outstanding issue of the Tl'oondih Healing Society and the fairness of how money is allocated and distributed, especially in the area of alcohol and drug rehabilitation and also southern institutions to which people have been sent in the past and still are being sent, such as to Bellwood, Poundmakers and other facilities in southern Canada. You state that this government would like to empower communities to look at new ways of doing things. I think this initiative that the Tl'oondih Healing Society has established is possibly one investment that this government could make with long-term returns in areas such as education, health, social services and justice, because these people who have attended these programs fit back into society and are making a real effort to help the communities by being employed and off of social assistance, and also out of the correctional facilities.
As I stated this morning, last year was the first year of operation for the Tl'oondih Healing Camp, which is operated by the Tl'oondih Healing Society. It's a registered charity organization in Canada. There were 152 people -- men, women, children and infants -- who participated in the program. Out of that, only four people dropped out of the program; for one reason or another.
This means that 97 per cent of those people who attended the Tl'oondih program stuck it out until the end, which is a five-week program.
They have a follow-up program which includes a 21-month follow-up for keeping in touch with the clients once they complete the program.
At this time, there is a waiting list which consists of 250 men, women and children who would like to enter this program. This program is the only one in Canada which encompasses the family.
At this time, the Tl'oondih Healing Camp has provided economic and employment opportunities to not only the community of Fort McPherson, but to other residents in the Territories, by offering them jobs in areas such as community mental health workers, therapists, administrators, cooks, camp maintenance people, adult counsellors, youth counsellors, child care workers and day care workers. The healing camp also hires people for cutting wood and transporting people and goods to the facility from Fort McPherson.
The program is unique and was established to motivate people to become more self-sufficient, independent and also deal with the family as a whole. This basically allows them to deal with issues such as physical abuse, mental abuse and also the long history of problems they have, especially in a lot of the aboriginal communities, from issues that may have happened years ago; from being put into the hostel systems, taken to southern institutions or to southern areas such as Fort Providence and Hay River where they had to attend school. The connection of the family unit was broken and still has not seemed to have recovered.
The savings to this government, from the families who have gone through this program, will be less burden on the system in future years by dealing with these problems today. These individuals will be able to contribute to the community and to society as a whole.
The annual budget for the Tl'oondih healing program is around $1.2 million which, compared to the other facilities in Hay River, Yellowknife and Iqaluit, for which your department has allocated something in the range of $300,000 for this year, which is not core funding....I would like to state that for the record. This is not core funding. This is money for services, for paying for clients to take the program. This program is for non-insured health benefits, so it's only for status Indians or Inuit.
At the present time, the Tl'oondih Healing Society is looking at corporate sponsors from southern Canada, and also in the North. They cannot continue to pay and operate a facility which is doing the public and this government a service which should be borne by this government since they do fund other institutions; not only in the Northwest Territories but also in Canada.
To date, the government has allocated around $4 million to fund four existing facilities in Hay River, Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Inuvik.
The Tl'oondih Healing Society is looking for $750,000 to operate that program. They are looking towards this government and also to other sources. My statement to the Minister with regard to this budget is that I would like to see the allocation done fairly and that they seriously consider the Minister's opening statement where they said the issues they're looking at are working with the communities to take new approaches to alcohol and drug programs and facilities. This is possibly one of the more promising initiatives that has been passed and developed in the Northwest Territories by northerners. This department should seriously look at this concept of healing the family as a unit, to deal with the other problems that are associated with families, the other issues you raised in your program: young offenders; having children put into homes; and, also dealing with the whole question of justice and the cost of putting people in correctional facilities which is a cost to this government. If we can find ways to avoid those types of issues and find new initiatives to accomplish that ... This is possibly one of the only initiatives to date that has gone out of the way, established something which is unique; to not only the Northwest Territories but to Canada. It has proven itself within the last year, looking at the statistics; they are looking at treatment in the context of an outstanding problem, the onus which is not only on the aboriginal people but has been imposed on them over time. They look at incarceration; the hostel systems; alcohol and drug problems that have basically taken a lot of lives in relation to suicides; and violence. This government should seriously take a look at this new initiative and I will be seriously pointing out these as we go through this budget today. Thank you.