Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to use this opportunity, through my Member's statement, to bring forward a concern that has been bothering some constituents of mine. Mr. Speaker, I can't name the person because this person happens to be a youth, but a family has called me on numerous occasions over the past year. It concerns their dealings with the Department of Health and Social Services about getting their child into treatment.
Mr. Speaker, we have a young northerner here who has FAE. This person is seriously at risk. It is time that something gets done. This family has been trying to deal with this situation for many years. They have been trying to work with the department. Mr. Speaker, these people, the parents that I am talking about, are good people. They are really trying, but, unfortunately, they are at the end of their ropes. They don't know what to do. They have been going to the department. Now they are getting new workers and new assessments. The parents are just begging, "Send our child out for treatment!" Their child has been in Bosco Homes, so there is a history of the child receiving treatment in the past. This child needs treatment now.
Some day, this child will no longer be a youth. The Minister responsible for this situation, who used to be a former social worker, will understand the importance of early treatment and intervention. We may never be able to reverse the effects of FAE. However, we can mitigate the future problems by doing something now. So how long are we going to wait for this terrible situation? Do we need another assessment? Because we already know the history of this person. I don't think it is beyond relative, straightforward thinking to say let's do something finally. This family needs a commitment. The concern is how much longer are we going to wait.
The Department of Health and Social Services is continually hot-potatoing this issue around. Is it a question of they don't want to spend the money? Do they not want to derive a bit of time for this young person? Because the issue here is, if they don't provide services, well, I can guarantee you today the Department of Justice will be providing services for this young adult in the future through three square meals a day and programming. So if we don't help them on this side of the government, I can guarantee you today we will be on the other side of the government. Mr. Speaker, I am just going to close my Member's statement by basically saying we are failing our kids, so we should darn well fail ourselves. Thank you.