Thank you. He spoke for about five minutes, but I think he said no.

I’d like to ask the Minister, is a treatment centre for the Northwest Territories even on the 20-year capital plan, the capital needs assessment. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We have one not only on the books, it actually exists. But is there a plan for another treatment facility on the books? There isn’t. There is no plan at this time within the 20-year assessment of our capital needs for a treatment centre. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I think that it doesn’t commit us to just put it on the capital plan. Is the Minister willing to do that? Because it is a need, it’s going to be a future need because we need a good modern treatment facility that includes detoxification. Making people wait 30 days, as one of the Members spoke about earlier, it’s just not doing it, because the need is immediate when you

want treatment from addictions and someone that is suffering cannot wait 30 days.

With a modern facility, I’d like to ask the Minister, is he willing to at least discuss it with his Cabinet colleagues and put it on the 20-year needs assessment. Thank you.

Yes, I am willing to discuss the possibility of a treatment centre with my Cabinet colleagues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Now is the Minister willing to move the capital plan up? Thank you.

---Laughter

Again, it’s not my decision whether or not that thing goes into the capital plan. It’s a joint decision by this side of the House and that side of the House. If I get it into a 20-year assessment, then the next step is up to this House.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really don’t know where to begin with this. Obviously, you know where my questions are going. The Minister stated earlier that he doesn’t feel that there’s no better use for the $300,000 for these discussion forums that are going on. I beg to differ, and I’m very concerned, and I do disagree, and I’m sure there are a lot of people in the medical field and justice system that would also be concerned with this attitude, as the Minister of Health and Social Services, that he feels that money cannot be better spent other than talking about what we already know is a problem.

My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is in terms of detox, because we do need it in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services confirm how many hospital beds are specifically designated for medical detox in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm that no beds are specifically designated for detox at any hospital in the Northwest Territories.

As I said, he stated earlier that he didn’t feel the money could not be better spent other than talking about what we already know is a

concern. With $300,000 we could hire a couple more nurses and designate some beds in the hospitals in Yellowknife and Inuvik or Norman Wells or Hay River for the people who need it. That’s where I’m trying to get the question. It’s very disheartening to sit on this side and listen to the Minister of Health make those comments and let us know that there are no detox beds in the Northwest Territories that he can confirm.

My second question is in terms of the policy for the amount of days that a person needs to be sober to access treatment either here in the Northwest Territories or when we have to send them down south, which I totally disagree with as well. What is the policy for the GNWT for the amount of days somebody needs to be sober to access treatment that they need that we’re making it difficult for them to access?

The policy on the length of time individuals wait is client specific. So it would depend on the counsellor availability, the number of clients waiting, the client’s need, and when the next bed in the treatment facility is available. There are a few factors. Any resident that has a crisis, that is in immediate risk, can actually get in to see a counsellor and the counsellor may be able to get that individual out to a treatment centre or detox centre or designate a bed in a hospital for an individual in an emergency type of situation where we felt there was some immediate risk.

I really enjoy when the Minister speaks about addictions and gives us his point of view on things. He said immediate risk. We’re not always dealing with people who have immediate risk and, actually, as we know, in mental health workers, we are short on that and there’s a big waiting list in that sense as well.

The coroner’s report specifies that 49 percent of alcohol-related deaths are suicides. So there is a great correlation here. Until they have to be in immediate risk, then will we help them? No. That doesn’t make sense.

What is the Minister doing to ensure that we do have the medical health counsellors in place in the communities where there is a big backlog right now? What is his plan to get that addressed?

We are in constant communication with the health authorities across the health and social services. We recognize that we have vacancies across the board in every area. We have 27 percent vacancy in social workers, 16 percent vacancy for nurses. Those are two of the numbers that I know off the top of my head. There are vacant positions recognizing mental health counsellors and wellness counsellors and so on.

We wish there were no vacancies, but we go out and try to fill the vacancies working with the authorities. We do put pressure on the authorities to

be able to fill the positions. There are always other factors. Housing is generally a factor. Sometimes there’s nothing available on the market for individuals when they need to relocate a social worker. We sometimes use locums to address the issues from nearby regional centres, but aside from that, I guess we’re just doing the regular thing and trying to fill positions, put out advertisements, and going through that process.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make reference to what the Minister said earlier, as well, that we need to get communities committed. Does the Minister not think these communities are committed after listening to the coroner’s report that alcohol-related deaths are at 49 percent, suicides are at 50 percent, accidental deaths are at 76 percent, or homicides? Those stats would make my community committed to getting detox and treatment centres in the communities even more.

Specifically to treatment programs, I would like to ask the Minister of Health what specific programs are not offered in the Northwest Territories that we do have to send our residents to southern treatment centres where they actually have to come back with a supp to top up the dollars. What specific programs are we not offering in the Northwest Territories that we should be addressing right now?

It’s nothing specific. In the cases where individuals are going to treatment and apply for treatment down south, or there’s a recommendation from the authority through the community counselling for an individual to go for treatment down south is usually because of the complex nature of the individual’s addictions. Sometimes addictions and mental health are very, very closely associated. I think 40, I hate to mention the percentage, but I think over half of the individuals that go for counselling for addictions also had mental health issues.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think there are many important questions being raised today, and I think we would all benefit from further discussion, certainly, on a new treatment centre versus programs being put in place and, of course, why a 30-day period of sobriety is required before treatment.

My statement today dealt with the impact of substance abuse on early childhood development. As I pointed out, community-based early childhood

development programs, pre- and postnatal programs, parenting workshops, mother and tot programs also provide a contact point for parents who may need to seek help with their addiction problems.

Can the Minister tell me whether, as we work towards completing the Early Childhood Development Framework, the opportunity for parents to raise their issues of addictions and seek help will be given a place in design of that programming?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

One of the key pieces of the early childhood development work that we’re doing is supporting healthy families in the communities. We consider that to be a very successful program. There are large groups in the communities for healthy families where there are mothers in there at a prenatal stage, right to children under one. There are those types of programs and there are other programs that are in these healthy families for two, three, and four-year-old children with their mothers in a program. A lot of that is our work in the early childhood development, is that we are looking at healthy families as a way to help combat this issue of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. The Minister’s department is now embarking on the consultations and fact-finding of the new addictions forum. This forum should examine not just individuals’ needs but families’ needs, as well, I assume.

Can the Minister tell me whether the terms of reference for the new addictions forum include an examination of how better to use the health and social services system as a whole to make contact with those in need of treatment and programming in the area of addictions?

The terms of reference for the addictions forum will be to get the information, gather the information and the recommendations. Their recommendations are going to be to ourselves and will consist of this is what the issue is and the community thinks this is the way it should be addressed. Our responsibility at Health and Social Services would then be to apply our authorities’ and our department’s work to what the recommendations are. It’s going to be at that point where those health programs and what the recommendations from the addictions forum will meet. It’s not specifically in the mandate of the addictions forum.