Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to thank my colleagues and members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their insight and their comments this evening. I think they’ve hit it right on the head about the issues that were of concern to committee as we moved through the process with Bill 55.

I just want to say, when I started with the 17th Legislative Assembly and we went through all the department discussions and briefings as new Members, even before we went into the TLC, one of the biggest things that I remember and I recall, and I bring it up on many occasions, is that mental health and addictions are the biggest cost-driver for our government and to be able to be where we are today and address part of that issue with mental health and, as Mr. Dolynny said, mental health and addictions go hand in hand, and even though we’re passing the Mental Health Act, we’ve got to make sure that we’re also keeping in mind that a lot of the mental health issues are stemming from underlying issues such as addiction, housing, suicide and that this act should reflect and be that first step moving forward into addressing our addictions issues as well. On June 2nd when the bill was referred to committee, a lot of work has been put into this bill both in the department as well as standing committee and staff, and I thank Mr. Bromley for recognizing our hard-working staff. He’s come to some of those meetings and we appreciate that.

A lot of work in the last four months on this bill and part of it didn’t even get started until towards the end of August. So from the end of August to where we are now is a significant amount of time and work gone into this.

I won’t go into some of the details, as Members have mentioned them earlier. One thing I’m glad that we did get back in there was the principle section of the bill and added that in, mainly because it does touch on some of the cultures and religions and some of the areas that weren’t represented throughout the bill. That’s great to see.

Also, as mentioned in the report earlier, the 27 amendments to a bill. I know in my short time, my first term, that’s the most. I was happy when we got four amendments and then the Child and Family Services Act. So 27 amendments in committee, and working with the department, they broke that down from just over 30. As Ms. Bisaro said, you didn’t get everything in there, but I feel quite confident about the work that committee has done, that the department has done, the staff has done. It really reflects how it’s going to affect our residents of the Northwest Territories.

Two things that I would really like to focus on here that have been mentioned was our mental health strategy for children and youth. Every jurisdiction in Canada has one, every province except for the Northwest Territories, and by modernizing and updating this bill, I think, as the Minister stated earlier with the review that was taking place, we’re going to see some good recommendations coming out of that, the 16 recommendations to move forward. I look forward, whether I’m still in this House or even just as someone that’s concerned about the mental health and care and treatment of our residents, that I’ll be looking to see that report if it should become public or working with other Members to see that through.

Every community we went to, a treatment centre was brought forward. It was one of our goals of the 17th Legislative Assembly to use existing infrastructure, which there are plenty out there. We know they’re out there and we’ve got to find a way that we can utilize it. We’ve brought suggestions forward for a pan-territorial treatment centre and I know the Minister did allude to earlier that this is a Mental Health Act, but it goes hand in hand with addictions and that’s something that we need to address.

A lot of other good concerns were brought from the communities, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, grief, loss, residential schools is a big one and those need to be addressed. If there was one question that I had, it is I know we do send a lot of people out for addictions issues, but we do have a lot of people out there who aren’t battling addictions but are suffering from PTSD, from grief, depression, trauma, from residential school. We’ve got to find a place where we can offer them the services equal to those who are battling addictions.

A couple other things as mentioned earlier. I guess we can do our part creating law, creating legislation, putting in the programs and services, Mental Health First Aid, ASIST, other screening tools, those kinds of things, but we need to get support from the communities, and that’s what we heard in the communities, as well, is government can only do so much, but as residents, as families, as leaders in the communities, they need to step up and be part of the team, as well, and work together, Aboriginal governments, NGOs, past survivors of addictions or mental health disorders. I just want to say that I really wish that residents and Members of the House, interested parties, stakeholders, could have seen the meetings that committee had, not only with the department but also within themselves working together, late nights in the communities, on the weekends, trying to get together whenever we could, e-mails and the work that our staff did to get those amendments, motions, providing reports all together within this short time frame was a lot of work and I know it had an effect, exhaustion, fatigue on not only our staff, but Members as well as we were dealing with other issues.

So I want to thank them for all their hard work, even right down to terminology within the clauses. When we did pass some of those amendments on Monday night in the public hearing, the Minister said on occasion that even though they were just small changes, it did strengthen the bill. So when Members do the questions and we asked and you try to change one word here and one word there, it does have significance behind it and that has strengthened the bill for residents.

I know this is just the first part in addressing our mental health and addictions issues, but it is a big step and I am really glad to be part of it. Everybody who assisted, family members who have experienced it, community members who have helped out other community members going through issues and not being able to find the services or the help that they needed, and I guess that when we put this into some of our other action plans, mental health and addictions action plans, anti-poverty strategies, early childhood development, economic opportunities strategies, when all those action plans come together, I think we are going to see a healthier Northwest Territories that is going to be a little bit better.

As Members have said earlier, it is quite fitting that the standing committee finish off their four-year term with such a significant piece of legislation that is going to have a strong impact on residents of the Northwest Territories. I think they have done a lot of good work. Members working with the departments, whether it be Justice, Education, Housing or Health and Social Services, moving forward I think there was a lot of good work done by committee. I was very happy to be part of it and it made me stronger as a Member, building off the energy and the hard work and commitment from Members and the staff that I worked with.

I know that on this particular bill, we had various staff members coming on trips and working in committee and I just want to thank everyone who had a part in this.

Really just the one question in terms of where do we send people who are dealing with mental disorders that don’t have addictions problems and are still seeking help. I guess that is the only thing. I am really glad that the department was able to work collaboratively with the Members and be open to making these changes. I think moving forward in the 18th Assembly, mental health and addictions is going to start to see some progress and see some really good things moving within our jurisdiction and can be a leader to our other northern jurisdictions and hopefully they will see what we are doing and can do the same for their people as well. Thank you.