Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Mr. Bromley and his seconder for putting some thought to this motion and bringing it to the floor so we can have some discussion. What I

understand from this motion is that Mr. Bromley is asking this government for some formula for success for our people. There is a formula out there. He is asking the Assembly as a whole. We are asking our leaders that we elected for Cabinet to investigate, look at the possibilities of a successful program, look at success for people in our communities, look for success in our children and to look at and come back to us and say this is what we found that is going to be successful.

Several years ago I was watching the program in United States. They got really radical in the States on issues with drug and alcohol and substance abuse, so radical that this school in the States is called Sobriety High. Young kids were in the schools and they were drinking and missing school and all that. The community got behind this issue and said we’re going to have a sober school. It’s called Sobriety High. They have a pilot project where the kids were in there. They did the school but they also introduced many self-supporting techniques, meetings, 12-step programs that these young adults were doing. It’s so cool to see these young people in Grade 11 and 12 going for lunch and having a 12-step meeting. They are so cool to listen to them talk about what it’s like to be sober in school. It wasn’t 100 percent successful, but it had a high degree of success for these people in the United States. They had a really good celebration. People teased that school because it was called Sobriety High. You could see the sparkle in their eyes, the enthusiasm and the success. I think that’s what we are asking through this motion that we do some innovative thinking.

We have a lot of reports where 90 percent of our RCMP time is spent because of drinking or drug use or some contributing effect because of the abuse of it. We can cut down the alcohol. RCMP is going to have many other things to do that will help the communities, but they are so busy.

This motion here is asking this government, the ones that we elect to be our Ministers, to get your department behind you and say, what can we do? Can we come up with a successful formula? Education, Justice, Health, what can we do when we put our heads together and say, is this the right formula? Can their departments look at what we’re dealing with? A disease that is in the North and it is hitting us hard.

When you deal with a disease as in a medical field, you have to have a remedy. There are remedies. Mr. Bromley talked about it in Old Crow. Good for those people in Old Crow. Maybe we should invite them with us and talk to us. That is our own people that have the tools. We have a lot of good people even in Yellowknife who we could talk to. We have to get everybody together. This is not a race issue. This is a humanity issue right across the board. It

doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor. I think we need to get a new remedy, talk about it.

You go to the Justice correctional facility. I bet you 98 percent of those people are in there because of alcohol. How much do we pay each day for them to stay there? They have it good because we wheel down the food to them. They don’t even have to get up to eat it; we push their food to them. They have it good, but most of them are there because of drugs or alcohol.

That’s what I like about this motion. It talks about going back to the land and healing from the land. It may not seem quite right for some people, but most of the issues we need to work together on. The land is where you are going to find the healing. That is why I like this program.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say, for the record, I will be 110 percent behind this motion.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we come across a program that is as successful as this one in a community that is so similar to a lot of our communities across the Northwest Territories, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that we should be putting a program like this or something similar into place to affect one of our factors in the health and social services system. Our Health and Social Services budget is the biggest out of our whole government budget. If we can put a crack or dent in that by finding programs such as this that is going to help our people thrive and become part of society, we should do that.

I am in support of this motion. I’m very honoured to second it. Thanks to Mr. Bromley for bringing it forth onto the table. I hope that we do seek such programs so that we can start making our people part of society again. It doesn’t take a very long walk from here to understand the issues that we’re facing here in the Northwest Territories in our regional centres. Inuvik has a big issue. This is one thing that we need to address in Yellowknife as well. It’s a huge issue.

I strongly support this motion and want to once again emphasize something I’ve said time and time again in this House, and that’s dealing with drug dealers and bootleggers. I’ve questioned Ministers on that. I want to address those issues in the communities. The underlying factors that keep our people down are the drug dealers and the bootleggers in our communities. Those are the people that we need to get out of the communities so that our people have a chance to go into programs like this, and not be worried that if they do come out of programs someone is going to be waiting around the corner for them. Those are the guys we need to get out of our communities, out of the territory so that we can be a healthy territory

once again. It’s something that I’ve brought up and something I will continue to fight for over these next four years, that eventually if it’s not in the territory, then hopefully in Inuvik we have a drug-free community.

I do support this motion and I’m very happy to hear that the community of Old Crow has a successful program as this and they’re helping their own people out. We should take the reins and follow suit and help our people out in the Northwest Territories.

I am in support of this motion and I, too, reiterate my fellow colleague Mr. Bromley, that the Premier allows his Cabinet members a free vote on this one. I’m sure that all Members of this House have had somebody with alcohol and drug issues, either a friend, family, a relative, go through the system. It’s not funny. It’s a serious issue. It’s our number one driving force in the health and social services system. That keeps a lot of our people employed to take care of them. I would like to see that today, first time ever, and something that touches everybody.

Thank you, and once again I thank Mr. Bromley for bringing this motion forward.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake is exactly right; it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to bring this motion today to the table, it takes a bird scientist.

---Laughter

And I want to make that known.

Addictions are, no less, the breakdown of the moral fabric of our society. I don’t think anyone in this room would contradict that at all. Abuse, whether it’s the addiction to alcohol, drugs, prescribed drugs, these are not going to go any time soon. In fact, our statistics are showing that this is growing at an alarming rate. We need to think outside the box. We’ve got to look outside the box to the current on-the-land programs. We’ve got to look at ideas that were brought forward by Mr. Bromley and seconded by Mr. Moses. These are areas we’ve got to put into place and into practice.

We cannot continuously use square-pegged holes for round-holed solutions. This has to stop. We’ve got to provide tools to the tool belts of our workers so that they can go fix this addictions bus. This bus is broken.

I’ll be voting towards this new toolbox, this new toolkit and this new tool to help support our bus.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. As a government, we know that the rates of

substance abuse are far too high amongst our residents and we need to take action. Substance abuse contributes to crime rates and is a cost-driver in the health care system. It also takes a terrible toll on our communities and our families.

In my travels through the communities over the past few months, I have heard repeatedly that we need to find more efficient ways to help our people with addictions. There is no one approach that works for everyone. We need to develop and offer a range of options within our system to help people deal with their addictions.

Aftercare in the community is important support for people returning from residential treatment programs. We also need to look at other creative approaches. For example, some communities have successfully piloted day treatment programs as an alternative to residential treatment. The department currently offers a variety of services for people who are struggling with addictions. We offer a 28-day gender specific residential treatment at Nats’ejee K’eh Treatment Centre located on the Hay River Reserve. This treatment centre is open to all residents over the age of 18 from the Northwest Territories.

In addition, the department offers community counselling programs to all the regions in the NWT. Community counselling programs provide counselling and support to all age groups and help all age groups with mental health addictions and family violence. The department works with the authorities, Aboriginal governments and communities to try to find approaches to treatment that are culturally appropriate and work at a local level. For example, the Deh Cho Health and Social Services is currently working with funding from Health Canada to pilot youth addictions treatment programs and this will fill a major gap in our system. The department has funded the Gwich’in Tribal Council to pilot an aftercare program for people returning from residential treatment. The department has made $25,000 available this year to all communities who want to sponsor on-the-land programs.

Before Christmas Minister Lafferty and I met with the Tlicho Services Agency. They told us in no uncertain terms that their priority to develop a substance abuse treatment program is grounded in Tlicho values, beliefs, language and culture. We need to find ways to respond.

As this motion gives direction to the government, the Cabinet will be abstaining from the vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member asked for a recorded vote. I’ll give Mr. Bromley closing remarks. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments from all Members of the

Legislative Assembly here today. Basically in summary, we have exceptionally high rates of addictions in the Northwest Territories. Our current programs have stagnated, but we need a practical approach. This program draws on the tried and true buddy system, it’s community-based, it allows us to work together, it recognizes the high costs of addictions in terms of human health, correctional and community costs and so on. It’s a priority of this Assembly and it’s a step toward addictions-free communities. This is only one of a range of options and creative solutions, as the Minister has said, and fits well with an on-the-land program and we do indeed need to have this and other programs, other steps and options that we do develop, soundly based in cultural and spiritual aspects for people.

So as a bird scientist, a previous bird scientist, I’d like to thank my colleagues and I’d like to thank my colleague Mr. Moses for seconding as chair of the Social Programs. I appreciate that support here and again request a recorded and ideally free vote. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member has asked for a recorded vote. Question has been called. All those in favour, please rise.

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Results of the motion: yes, nine; abstentions, seven. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and other matters. Item 21, report of Committee of the Whole. Item 22, third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Friday, February 17, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.

The House adjourned at 4:12 p.m.