Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About a week ago, I was pleased to host about 20 people at a Great Slave constituency meeting. That's a pretty good attendance and I want to thank all of those who came out.
One overall issue that came out, Mr. Speaker, again and again and again is my constituents tell me that we in government have fallen down and fallen down badly on the prevention, treatment and follow-up for people with social problems, abuse and neglect. Mr. Speaker, here is what some constituents said last week.
We need more treatment centres in Yellowknife and across the Northwest Territories. We need to do more, much more, to prevent the drinking that devastates so many babies because of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The caseloads of our frontline social workers are too heavy and unmanageable. They need more tools and resources. Alcohol abuse is getting worse. There should be a major commission on alcohol abuse in the NWT. Cocaine and other hard drugs are causing a troubling spiral of danger and violence in downtown streets. Yellowknife's overcrowding and unaffordable housing is a lead cause of depression and domestic conflict that is spilling out of our homes.
Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of our term, we put together a document called Towards a Better Tomorrow, Our Vision for a Prosperous Future. We talked about healthy, educated Northerners making responsible choices for themselves and their families. Despite our robust economy, prosperity for some, even for many, Mr. Speaker, it is far short of our goal when we don't have a healthy community for all. What's happening?Mr. Speaker, in the NWT in 1999 to 2000, Criminal Code incidents increased more than 33 percent. In terms of violence, it has increased 15 percent and drug charges under federal statute have increased 23 percent. In Yellowknife, the number of incidents for the Yellowknife RCMP detachment has gone up from just over 3,000 in 1999 to almost 4,900 in 2002.
The NWT Liquor Commission annual report of last year shows that total volume of liquor increased by eight percent over 2001, primarily due to increased sales in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek consent to conclude my statement.