Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think everyone knows how I feel about this particular issue but, just in case someone hasn’t heard, I’m certainly willing to share it, once again, in this Assembly.
How far have we carried this message of addictions and the need for action? Study after study keeps telling us the same things our Minister’s Forum on Addictions keeps telling us. What have we learned? We’ve learned the same things over and over again, yet we’ve realized nothing.
What we have realized is we’ve seen the closure of the Nats’ejee K’eh. That was a bombshell. That was a shocker to every single person who was caught by surprise.
I’m mad that that happened. You know what? I’m very upset that that happened. I’ve always said that there was a place in our North for that particular facility, and anyone who would shut that down has done an insult to the treatment of the addictions. I’ll tell you why. This story doesn’t end there. If you go to the Forum on Addictions recommendations, the forum says they’ve heard repeatedly that residential treatment centres, such as Hay River’s Nats’ejee K’eh Centre, are important and they need some changes and they need some help.
The Forum on Addictions panel was a waste of time if it just gets shut down. Why did we even bother? People know how I feel about this particular issue. We need to do something.
We heard recently: If you had a broken arm, what would happen? We’d send you to the hospital, because you deserve treatment, you need treatment. If you have a mental health and addictions problem, where do we send you? My answer drove silence, and that’s the problem.
What has the public learned from this? Their government continues to ignore their issues, people feel lost and helpless, and the fact is homes and good families are being destroyed. I’ve talked and characterized addictions like a cancer, watching people fall apart, families be destroyed. If this government was writing its story, I would call it a
narrative. I would certainly describe it more of a tragedy than any hope or inspiration.
Do not give up on our people. Do not give up on the fight for addictions. We need to be relentless every day. We will be back every day, if necessary, because this problem matters and we need action. Thank you.