Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu our elders often tell us to go out on the land because the land will take care of you. I’ve often wondered what this meant. So this past spring and summer I paid extra close attention to this saying and noticed and realized how the land shows you how to live life. It does take care of you if you listen and are willing to learn.
Mr. Speaker, it’s little wonder that over the past six years I’ve been pushing for on-the-land treatment programs in the Sahtu, as instructed by our elders.
Mr. Speaker, aside from the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, there are no other treatment centres in the Northwest Territories that treat alcohol and drug addiction. Addictions are the biggest causes of social breakdowns in the Northwest Territories and we spend millions of dollars every year treating addiction-related behaviours.
I understand the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Justice are reviewing their mental health and addictions programs. The territorial government spends close to $2 million every year on the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, and we are soon to close the Arctic Tern facility and spend nearly $40 million to build new corrections centres in the South Slave. The Department of Justice spends $135,000 on wilderness camps in the South Slave.
A wilderness camp was piloted in the Sahtu some years ago and it was very successful. Mr. Speaker, I encourage the Minister of Health to look at this wilderness camp initiative, the one like with the Department of Justice, and do one in the Northwest Territories. We need to understand and implement our aboriginal values and beliefs in wellness and healing camps if we are to win this battle with addictions, and the successes are greater if we do it on the land.
On-the-land treatment programs support the department’s goal to promote healthy choices and responsible self care, and establish culturally appropriate treatment programs, and it supports the GNWT’s vision of healthy, educated people who
must act on what our elders keep telling us, as there is much wisdom in their saying as it might save our nation one day. Thank you.