Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department, just to clarify, did not undergo an initiative to close down a facility. The department, previous to my time was working along with the Northern Addiction Services Board to try and come up with a reasonable level of programming that could fit the residents of the Northwest Territories. It was with our disappointment from within the department we were informed that, in fact, the board had decided to pursue another avenue and they are continuing to work in the area of Justice Canada to try and run a program that would treat their clients. That being the case, we have decided to not continue the existing arrangement we had with them, but instead we are looking at what services we can provide out of the existing facilities that are available to us at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said, initially there was no plan to close the facility. We were looking at reprofiling the facility and that work has been going on for some time with the board. In the area of looking at repatriating some of our children's services that are performed on behalf of residents in the southern provinces and looking to bring back to the North and trying to make a child work along with children and families, as I have said, unfortunately, we were informed that was not the area the NAS board saw the facility moving in. They went on to contact Justice Canada to work out an arrangement and we were informed of that a number of months ago.

I also sent a letter to Members to inform them as to the situation as it is today and my deputy met with the board last week and tried to clear some of the issues that have gone on because there were a number of letters that have been written, and unfortunately, put the shadow over what was ongoing and we have tried to clarify that situation. At present we are aware that the board is continuing to try and secure a contract with Justice Canada and ourselves as the Department of Health and Social Services have been looking at reprofiling our existing facilities that we have existing to us to try and ensure that no one is left out in the cold when it comes to receiving services when it comes to alcohol and drugs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are ongoing with the reprofiling exercise that was started some time ago in trying to better utilize our facilities and provide the level of service that is required to residents of the territories. We were looking at a number of initiatives, for example, gender specific programming that would be available at different times of the year. For example, at a facility out of Yellowknife we were looking at providing women's treatment for a number of months and then switching to men's treatment and providing a service to that level of degree.

Unfortunately, when the NAS board informed the department that the Dettah facility was no longer available for what was ongoing in the reprofiling exercise we have had to do some shuffling within our existing resources and facilities to try and come up with that and it has delayed somewhat what we are hoping to implement, but the work is ongoing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are

a number of facilities that the department uses in the city of Yellowknife that run existing programs. There was the detox centre on Franklin avenue. There was the Rycon Building, I believe it is, that was used for a group home and I think there is a territorial treatment centre and we are hoping to reprofile those facilities to take on different workloads that we could better support those people who are in need of treatment programming. Mr. Speaker, to add to this, this was not an initiative that was started by the department on its own. There were concerns that initiated this from the boards that used the services of the Dettah facility. There were some concerns and we tried to work through those and unfortunately to this date we have not been able to come to a successful arrangement. Needless to say that we are still open to opportunities of working with them if they would like to revisit their decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.