Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen. It is Addictions Awareness Week, as she has mentioned. I have had constituents call me with concerns about the number of treatment facilities in the Northwest Territories. I think a short time ago we had five operating facilities and I think that we are down to one. The department seems interested in pursuing mobile treatment facilities. From what I can tell, it seems primarily motivated by money; this is a much cheaper alternative. Other than money, can Mrs. Groenewegen tell us why the department has chosen to go this route instead of reopening permanent facilities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department did not intend or plan to go this way in isolation. In fact, there was considerable funding committed previously to a Yellowknife facility. When it looked as if those resources would become available, there was an alternative programming steering committee that was struck that worked together to look at the best utilization of these resources. This encompassed quite a number of stakeholders, NGOs and people in the communities, so the government in isolation did not make choices with respect to these. We did consult with many people and it was felt that the most effective expenditure of our limited resources was these other various mobile and post-trauma recovery, these types of initiatives which we recently announced, and we will be monitoring them to see what kinds of results and outcomes they achieve and to determine their effectiveness. It was not a money-saving exercise. It was an exercise to determine the most effective way of addressing the problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most effective way to address the problem and an effort to deal with the problem while saving money, I would assume. One of the things that some Members of the House heard and I, myself, heard from child protection workers, is that the number of children in care, half of them are from the communities and have been in Yellowknife for less than six months. They indicated this is likely due to the fact that there is a lack of treatment in communities and you have to come to Yellowknife for treatment. Of course, we have also shut down facilities.

However, as far as mobile treatment, Mrs. Groenewegen mentioned that we are keeping an eye on it and we are analyzing it. Do we have results? Are we still at the pilot project stage? Do we know if these mobile treatment facilities are in fact working, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I am sure the Member is well aware, when you are dealing with addictions and clients who struggle with addictions, we do not always immediately have a clear indication of how these treatment options are working. Certainly indications we have had back to date with respect to the Women's Mobile Treatment Program have been very positive. There are some real advantages to the mobile program and the initial reaction is positive. It will take time, though, to determine what the long-term effects are. If there was a quick solution to addictions problems, I am sure we would all be the wiser. Unfortunately, there is not one set way of addressing these problems and it does take a spectrum of options available to people. That is what our research and statistics show. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. This spectrum of options available to people, if it has mobile treatment, I assume at the other end of the spectrum is permanent facilities. We have heard various Members of the House, Mr. Lafferty, indeed Mr. Roland, talk about the need for permanent facilities in their communities. I know we need one in Yellowknife. If we are talking a spectrum, a range of options, are we currently looking at permanent facilities and establishing whether or not there is a need for permanent facilities in the communities and in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am not aware of any permanent residential facilities that are being considered anywhere in the Northwest Territories. When I talk about the spectrum of solutions that are out there that people might find help through, I am not just talking about efforts that are undertaken by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Information we get on feedback for people who have overcome addictions are that some people are assisted through things like Alcoholics' Anonymous. Some people are helped through connecting with a spiritual group and finding a sense of community and support there. There are a number of different ways in which people find the help they need to overcome this problem. So I am not just referring to government programs and institutions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is all well and good to hope that other non-government agencies will help deal with their problems but, in fact, the buck does stop here. We have a commitment to the people to deal with addictions. I was looking for a response from the Minister that would suggest that we are certainly analyzing the full range of possibilities and looking at permanent facilities. Clearly mobile treatment may work for some folks, but the only answer for others may be permanent facilities where they can be out of the problems that they have in day-to-day life. Would the Minister now acknowledge this?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

HON. JANE GROENEWEGEN Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of course I would acknowledge it. As a government, we do have a responsibility to help people in any way we can. However, we also have an obligation to work with other partners who work on the frontline in addressing these issues. We have an obligation to consult with communities.

One of the complaints we often receive as a government is that we sit here in Yellowknife and try to dictate to communities how they should deal with their issues. So I do believe that the partnership approach is a good approach and I think we have had excellent input from some of the non-government organizations and some of the volunteers who work every day first hand with people and see what some of the answers to these very challenging problems are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Member's question was, does the GNWT have a responsibility to address issues of environmental contaminants and research associated with such potential contaminants. Yes, the Department of Health and Social Services does have a mandate to minimize the exposure of NWT residents to environmental health hazards and does work collaboratively with territorial, federal and aboriginal governments to respond to issues such as contaminants.

There is a lot of research that does go on in the Northwest Territories at any given time in this area. We are kept informed of it. We do not always initiate it. This is something that is carried on by more than one level of government, but we do actively participate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.