Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently in Inuvik there was another meeting held on the effects of crack cocaine. This is the second such meeting within the past 18 months and people up there are still getting frustrated with the onslaught of drugs into the community. Many people seem to think that with all the money coming into town from the pipeline, the use of drugs will increase.
We've always had problems, Mr. Speaker, with drugs in the communities. We've always had some sort of social problems. One of the biggest problems, I still believe, is the amount of alcohol that is abused in the Northwest Territories.
When I sit, Mr. Speaker, and listen to a parent agonizing over the decision their child is making on crack, that bothers me and the lack of options for treatment. We have to send them south for treatment in a lot of cases.
In Alberta, Mr. Speaker, there is a program that is run close by the mountains for kids who are addicted to drugs. It's a three-month program. They go out on the land for three months and a lot of these kids don't want to leave once they are doing this program. Why can't we have such a program as this, Mr. Speaker? With all the money we seem to spend in sending kids south for treatment, we should be able to build our own ranch. Some people say it's hard to earn a living off the land and I tend to agree with that with the way things are going; it is getting tougher. But I firmly believe, Mr. Speaker, by being out on the land you can learn how to live.
Mr. Speaker, let's give residents of the Northwest Territories an opportunity to heal on their own land instead of sending them south. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.