Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Members for all speaking up and saying what you have to say; and also for the Minister’s consideration to the new Assembly once we get there.
I want to say that this motion came from a time when my family was out at Old Fort Point in the bush. When I came back to Tulita, the first person that came to me said to me that we have to do
something with the young kids and their drinking. It’s getting scary and out of hand.
I know, as Mrs. Groenewegen has stated, that not all people have lived or grown up on the land and sometimes it’s very difficult, so I do appreciate her bringing her concerns. I thank her for opening my eyes also, that when we look at something, that’s the best solution for the people.
Also, one thing I do know is that alcohol has no discrimination in race, barrier, colour, man, or woman. That’s the one unity, commonality, that we can have. It doesn’t matter who you are, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, it affects us all.
What I do know is that if you come down to a personal level, to me, my step-father died because of it. That is so painful, especially when times at spring hunt, Christmas, fall hunt, birthdays. That’s painful and shameful and it hurts. Us human beings have such good coping mechanisms, we deal with it in our own way. Through people like you’ve heard in the communities, and workers, there is hope. It’s a struggle. As my colleague said, there’s after-care that we really need to look at. Some things that we are discovering. Why don’t you put it away?
The other fact is that I know about this: some people can use it and are pretty okay with it. That’s okay. I talk about this being on the land for people who abuse it; people who need some kind of other support than doing nothing.
For us to survive as a culture, as a nation, we have to do the most outrageous, radical thing, is put these programs on the land through a mobile unit and have it looked at again. That’s why I like this motion, and I thank the Members for supporting me on this. I know there’s hope because I’m standing here today sober for the last 24 years. I know there’s hope. I know it can be done.
I want to ask you, Mr. Speaker, if we could have a recorded vote once this motion is on the table to vote.