Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Again, everything is in the future. I would hope that the Minister would recognize that the need is now, and yes, we can plan and develop and put frameworks in place, but again I would ask the Minister if he would commit to try to develop something for our service providers before they start the pilot in the fall. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we will have a program in place in the fall to be piloted. I can’t create something with a snap of my fingers. It takes time. We have to consult with the different Aboriginal groups. We have to make sure we have proper input. We have to make sure that the program is going to work. We can put something in place overnight, but I can pretty much guarantee that it’s going to be a failure.

Give us a bit of time to get this done right. The fall is not that far away. It’s May. Summer is here. We will have something ready in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to have a question for the Minister of Health today. In our Caucus priorities, we mentioned enhancing addiction treatment programs using existing infrastructure. Last year during the Forging the Future Youth Conference, they recognized as the number one recommendation was regional treatment centres, with the end goal of creating a full treatment centre for people of the Northwest Territories.

On March 26th I read an editorial that says, the

Minister of Health says that a new addiction treatment centre might not be the best option. It raised a little bit of concern for me and a few other constituents that I have. We are not looking at creating a new treatment centre. We want to provide a service, using what we have right now in the Northwest Territories for the people that need it.

What is the Minister’s plan in looking at creating these treatment centres in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was responding to a piece of infrastructure that possibly could be used for the treatment of youth. What we have discovered is that a youth treatment facility is youth going into a treatment facility may not necessarily work the best. Most youth that enter treatment are forced into a treatment facility. That is why most of the youth that go to a residential treatment facility end up going to the South. But I was suggesting that maybe there is something that can be developed that is community and culturally specific so that the youth can attend treatment closer to home. Thank you.

Last session I asked and got a written question asking for buildings in three of the northern communities, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Inuvik. I only received the one for Inuvik and that is a start for this government to move forward to look at these three buildings that can be used as a treatment centre, as the Minister of Health is willing to look at these buildings in Inuvik and look at creating some type of programs. The people in our region – the Beaufort-Delta region, the Sahtu region – that need the treatment have some place to go, that they are comfortable in the environment and that they will have the support of family and friends. Is the Minister committed to looking at those buildings as a possible treatment centre for the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are prepared to look at those buildings. When we travelled into the communities, that was something that the community suggested, that perhaps without an in-depth analysis of any sort, the community suggested that maybe this building would be good for a youth treatment facility.

We are prepared to look at that, but first we want to do wellness plans. That is working with the communities, going to the communities, getting some information from the communities so that the communities will tell us what they think will work in the area of treatment of youth and adults, of course. Yes, I think we are prepared to look at the buildings that are suggested, such as the one that was suggested in Inuvik. Thank you.

With that said, we’ve got the buildings in Inuvik, we’ve got the O and M costs. In one of our previous sessions we passed a motion to look at the Old Crow model for programs, which is similar to any community across the Northwest Territories. We’ve got the programs, we’ve got the building, can we somehow put it together and start moving on this so our people who are suffering from addictions and that need the treatment and the help that they need can have someplace to go? Can I ask the Minister where is his department with that motion that we passed here in the House in the previous session?

The department is responding to the Members in the House and responding to the people of the Territories. We are going to be tabling a Mental Health and Addictions Plan this session, and within that plan it talks about the various ways that we’re going to attempt to treat individuals suffering from mental health and addictions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the tabling of the document this session, when can we start seeing some action put on that document so that people in the Northwest Territories have an idea of when they can start seeing some services in the communities and in the Northwest Territories? So, can he commit to a time frame of putting that action into place?

It’s a three-year plan, so we’re going to have to do something very quickly. Within this coming budget that’s approved, we’ve got some money put in there. The Standing Committee on Social Programs has asked us to add more money into prevention and treatment, so we’re looking at that. So we don’t have a long, long period to contemplate this. We’re going to start actioning the plan as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was discussing the new health care facility in Hay River. My questions today would be for the Minister of Health, pertaining to the new health care centre and our existing hospital. My first question would be: Can the Minister explain to me what the difference between a hospital and health care centre are and is Hay River being downgraded?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Health, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is being built in Hay River is a modern health centre, and the term “hospital” often refers to what is being provided. Tertiary care is being provided in there. In the health centre we will be providing other types of services. We’re going to have acute care beds in the health centre and emergency beds. Essentially all of the services that are being provided by H.H. Williams will be provided in the health centre. Some of the things that may move offsite could be social services, public health and administration, finance and so on. Aside from that, all of the services that are being provided in the

hospital in Hay River now will be provided in the new health centre. Thank you.

In our briefing about the new health care centre, the department indicated that the 10 long-term care beds were not in the current facility design. Will the Minister commit to replacing those beds? We have more demand than we have beds currently in the long-term care facility. So will the Minister commit to that?

Long-term care is not really an appropriate place to be housed in a hospital. The hospital, I guess, is not really an appropriate place to house long-term care, is what I’m trying to say. So what we’re looking at is we do want to take the 10 long-term care beds in the current hospital and move them as part of the overall long-term care units that are being provided in Hay River now.

Right now we are going to be doing a midlife retrofit of the Woodland Manor long-term care facility and that’s going to happen between 2015 and 2020. This hospital is scheduled to start construction this fall and finish over the next couple of years. So we’re trying to time it so that these 10 beds are covered off within Hay River. At the end of the day, those beds will not be lost to the community. Thank you.

My only concerns are he indicated that the facility would be completed before their midterm review for the upgrade of the facility at Woodland Manor. So there’s a year or two where these beds are going to be out in the cold, or these people. Where would we be putting them? I know at Woodland Manor we currently have a wait list. So we’re talking about 10 beds that we’re currently supplying at the hospital and we have a wait list of five. So our demands are at least 15, and like I indicated in my Member’s speech, the aging population in the Northwest Territories and Canada is growing. So our demands for this facility will be higher than what is currently planned for the department. I guess my concern or my question is: How will the Minister close that gap of those dates when the new facility is completed and the upgrades are not completed at Woodland Manor?

The modern health centre in Hay River is scheduled to be completed 100 percent by 2015. We’re going to put into the capital plan, prior to that, the work that is going to be going into Woodland to expand Woodland to accommodate that. So in between I can see where the Member would indicate that there would be some gap. We will be discussing this further with the Members and also with the authority, the local health and social services authority, to close that gap so that people are not out in the cold and those people are accommodated right through the process so that there will always be someplace for them to go, and then eventually lead into the

expansion at Woodland or a facility built on the Woodland Manor site that’s closely affiliated with Woodland Manor. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my speech, this is important to Hay River, and to seniors that require these long-term beds it’s very important. Can I get the Minister’s commitment of when the department will attend a public meeting and explain to the public of Hay River what is going on with this facility?

The department and I will be going into Hay River before the end of June to have a public meeting and provide the information to the public. Thank you.