Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing forward this motion. As we know, this disorder occurs at varying degrees and, in some cases, judgment capability is impaired in individuals, as Ms. Bisaro has clearly laid out. Judgment may become quite limited and equivalent to that of a child, even when they are fully grown adults. Yet, our system and our laws treat these people as if they have the full ability of an adult to make logical judgments. This is where we start to really get into trouble.
The current laws assures them of their rights as an individual to make those judgments typical of adults, and without full capacity for reasoning and judgment leads to very tragic consequences.
People with FASD often don’t have this capability and, again, they end up playing a role that leads to getting off track and causing a lot of problems for family members as well as themselves and society.
The consequences also end up in our corrections system all too frequently and repeatedly. There is exposure to our corrections system which is not fully equipped to deal with people with FASD. They are not funded appropriately for that. They don’t have the necessary expertise. Again, this is exacerbated further when people don’t have a clear diagnosis or assessment.
As mentioned, this leads to tragedy for families, especially for those people with FASD as well as the individuals themselves: their parents who are trying to care for them often even when they’re adults in physical age, and their siblings and their friends.
So, I appreciate that there are some steps being reflected in this private member’s bill at the federal level. I think it is appropriate to speak out in support of this. I am also encouraged that this government is moving this fall, I believe, towards the implementation of a wellness court, which takes acknowledgement of this situation and begins to address this condition and the consequences of it right here in the Northwest Territories for residents and families.
So this is a national issue, certainly, but it’s also a very big issue in the Northwest Territories. Again, thanks to my colleagues. I will be supporting the motion. Mahsi.