Thank you, Mr. Chair. I and the Department of Health and Social Services are clearly supporters of the concept of a wellness court and Health and Social Services has been an active supporter of the concept of a wellness court and it remains a priority as we move forward, and it’s also important to helping address things like the addictions and mental health in the Northwest Territories. The role of the health and social services system is to ensure that mental health services are available. With respect to the wellness court, which will give confidence to the judiciary in the effectiveness of a wellness court and I do know that the judiciary are actively involved in the wellness court as we move forward.
The Member keeps asking what money have we put in, what money have we put into this. I think a 0.5 PY, but that really doesn’t do what the department is providing around this service as Justice. We do have social workers who will be involved, we do have other professionals who will be involved, and it doesn’t necessarily require creating a whole bunch of new positions or dumping a whole bunch of money. The biggest part of the budget for the wellness court is actually coming from the Department of Justice, but Health and Social Services will continue to be an active partner utilizing the resources that we have today. Once again, it’s about doing better with what we have and making sure that the services we’re providing meet the needs, including the needs of a wellness court.