Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Member's preface, just because no more money would be under the mandate of this report, that no more money would be added to Department of Health and Social Services does not necessarily translate to the fact that no new money would be spent on addictions services. There is certainly room for the potential of reprofiling or reallocating funds within existing budgets, and I think that is something that we should keep in mind.

Mr. Speaker, at the present time in the Northwest Territories, there are various programs and services available relating to addictions services. For example, the Nats' Ejee K'eh facility on the Hay River Reserve is a 30-bed residential treatment facility for addictions. It is a 35-day alcohol and drug program consisting of Dene culture, lecture, the AA 12-step program, and one-on-one counselling.

Mr. Speaker, there are also two treatment centres for youth, which deal with addictions in the Northwest Territories. One is the eight-bed Trailcross facility in Fort Smith, and the other is the eight-bed Territorial Treatment Centre here in Yellowknife. In addition to this, there are also 40 beds available for inmates who are on their way back to their communities. At the Salvation Army here in Yellowknife, they receive counselling on addictions on their way back to their communities through the Early Release Program.

There are also programs within the correction facilities that offer addictions counselling to inmates while they are incarcerated. As we have talked about in this House, there certainly are also referrals to other institutions in the south where specialized treatment is required. Mr. Speaker, I do not represent this little overview to be the entire comprehensive explanation of all services that are available, but hopefully this would give the Member somewhat of an indication of what is available at the present time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the Minister suggests that we are going to reprofile budgets, but I do not think the kind of money that we need is going to be found within the current budget. I mean, I think that with reprofiling, there are some possibilities there, but it is almost sketchy at best. I am wondering if the Minister might tell us where she is intending to take the money from? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, during this sitting of the Legislature, the repeated message for many of the MLAs has been that we must deal with addictions. Mr. Speaker, I believe that I can say, as the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, that this is a problem that not only has a very high human cost, it also has a large cost in terms of government dollars.

Mr. Speaker, the question of where funding would be taken from to reprofile for addictions I think, at this point, may be somewhat premature. We need to sit down with Members and other people in the communities and look at the different things that could be put in place that have to do with addictions.

Mr. Speaker, I think Members would agree with me that programs need to be delivered in a way that deals with the root causes of much of the pain in the North that causes addictions in the first place. Models of addiction treatment that treat addiction as a symptom of underlying issues must begin to surface here in the North. Because I do not think that any amount of money could solve the addictions problems in the Northwest Territories.

I think it is going to take an effort on the part of this government and other community and aboriginal leaders, to recognize the magnitude of the problem, then begin to look at ways we might address it. The addictions issue is usually a manifestation of underlying causes. When you identify the underlying causes and people are ready to start talking about them and dealing with them, I think we will have something to begin with. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Minister. I do not think any amount of money could entirely fix our problem. I think it is about life choices. The Minister mentioned she thought it a little premature to start making some decisions on where this money might come from. She suggested we might have to go out and do some research on the matter. I am wondering if the Minister can tell us if she is proposing to study or do a study on where money might come from? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that any more formal studies into the issue are required. I think we already have much of the information we need to start addressing this problem. It is a matter of looking at what has worked in the past. I think I would be correct in saying that many Northerners have been treated for addictions and have had a relapse.

We need to look at the effectiveness of the programs. Are we spending money on treatment, then when the resident returns to the communities, and there is no community support or network there for them, they fall back into the same pattern. We need to look at all of those issues and spend our money in the most effective way possible to see results. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. It is regarding the questions I asked last week of the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs. I am speaking of the large numbers of THMs, or trihalomethanes, which are known to have an effect, especially when consumed over an extended period of time, on public and private health.

There are federal standards in place that allow for 100 parts per billion. Those are the federal guidelines. Yet the tests that have been taken on the water in Fort McPherson have exceeded the national standards.

Mr. Speaker, last week, large amounts of THMs found in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have set off alarms. They are a group of chemicals suspected of causing bladder cancer, colon cancer and the possibility of still-births. THMs are in that group. I would like to ask the Minister, how seriously is her department taking this issue? What is her department doing to ensure something is done on this matter? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. During the past two years, THM levels in Fort McPherson's water supply have been above the national guidelines for community drinking water quality of a limit of 100 parts per billion.

Fortunately, we do not have any evidence that THMs are causing ill health to the people in Fort McPherson. However, Municipal and Community Affairs, the Department of Health and Social Services, and the regional governments are working together. All parties agree that a long-term solution is to develop an alternative water source.

There are agreements that need to be put in place in order for that to occur. Municipal and Community Affairs has been working with the Gwich'in Tribal Council to develop Deepwater Lake as a new water source for the community of Fort McPherson.

The work has been ongoing. It has not happened as quickly as the department would like to have seen. There have been some obstacles. In the meantime, temporary measures for the residents are in place, such as drinking bottled water and filtering drinking water with a Brita home filter. If drinking water was obtained from sources outside of the community supply, the water should be boiled prior to drinking. Mr. Speaker, these are the interim measures that have been taken to address this problem. Indeed, a long-term solution is necessary. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister made reference that there is no evidence as to what THMs are doing to the people of Fort McPherson. How do you detect that? Do we have to have a number of deaths in the community? Or still-births? Is that the type of detection the Minister is waiting for? How will you detect that this is a public health concern?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is again correct. Recent studies have reported associations between THM levels and certain types of cancer, as well as an adverse affect on pregnancy outcomes.

These studies are, to date, inconclusive. A national task group was established in 1998 to comprehensively assess the risks of THMs. To our knowledge, none of the side effects of THMs have been identified to date in Fort McPherson. However, the department is going to be interested to continue to monitor that situation. Hopefully, the long term solution will come about before we ever get to the point where we are having recorded cases of anything related to the drinking water.

Mr. Speaker, the roles of the Government of the Northwest Territories departments that have been acting on this matter are as follows: Municipal and Community Affairs has taken the lead role and provides the funding in this area; Public Works and Services provides the technical support; and Health and Social Services acts in an advisory capacity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to know if the Minister's department has made any attempts to find out about the incidents that are occurring in eastern Canada regarding the THM readings in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the statistics from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland with respect to THM levels. I know the Government of the Northwest Territories, through our department, keeps a registry of certain types of illness, such as cancer. Certainly, the statistics for Fort McPherson could be made available to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what attempts her department is making to ensure the people in Fort McPherson can be assured this is going to be monitored, and the health of the people in Fort McPherson will be checked on a regular basis to ensure this does not become a problem? That we do not find, down the road, this was the cause of major increases in cancer cases or birth defects?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister Groenewegen.