Mr. Speaker, it is important when we're looking at this issue to look at the situation in Hay River. It was the municipal decision of the Town of Hay River and its people to seek proposals for power. NTPC was one of the bidders. ATCO was another. It was a town decision to go with that NTPC proposal. There have been no decisions made for Yellowknife, but it will be the city that decides whether or not to go out for proposals when the current franchise expires in 2020.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about NTCL and their lots in Hay River. I have some questions for the Minister of Lands. When I brought this up before, the government didn't seem to be doing much, and so I was hoping they've been a bit more proactive. Has the department done any inspections of NTCL's lands in Hay River or anywhere in the Territory to check for environmental and compliance issues, and what were the results of these inspections, if they occurred, and what future actions are they leading to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Lands.

Mr. Speaker, this is a complex issue. The company is not yet bankrupt. They have a lease, and we need to wait for the CCAA process to proceed. However, the department has conducted inspections of lands that are leased to NTCL. This includes lands that are directly leased to the company by the GNWT, as well as those leased through head leases given to the Town of Hay River. No lease compliance issues have been identified. Lands will be working with other departments to identify areas of particular concern that would be in need of additional environmental assessment. Again, we must wait for the end of the CCAA bankruptcy procedure in court.

I'm glad to see that there have been some inspections. There are some sites that you don't really need to wait to see how things turn out. You know no one is going to buy them; you know no one wants them. So we can have plans in place for those lands, at least.

In the devolution agreement, there are clauses that absolve the Government of Canada of any responsibility to remediate sites. These are called released sites. Are there any released sites that the department has identified in Hay River or anywhere in the Territories?

There are no NTCL sites that fall into this category 10. Not all of the NTCL leases fall under the category of operating sites, and as such may be subject to provisions of the devolution agreement that allow us to assert to Canada that they have responsibilities for remediation of the sites. This assertion does not necessarily result in Canada's acceptance of a liability for the site, and there is a process laid out in the devolution agreement through which the GNWT would have to develop and provide evidence to support the assertion.

There's a lot of work ahead, I can tell. Is there someone in the department who is tasked with the NTCL file, that is the expert on this, who is making the plans, who knows the acts, knows the devolution agreement, who is focusing on ensuring that this government is doing the right thing when it comes to NTCL lands?

Within the Department of Lands, the assistant deputy minister of Planning and Coordination is leading and coordinating the NTCL file, supported by a director, regional superintendents, as well as our lands inspectors. Our team has been proactively meeting with officials from across the GNWT, including ENR, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, and the Department of Justice. Meetings occur regularly and, in fact, there is another scheduled for this very afternoon. We are treating this matter very seriously.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to keeping me updated on any movement on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly we will keep the Members opposite updated.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following my Member's statement I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I would like to ask the Minister what services are available today, right now, for youth struggling with mental health and addiction issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a wide range of services available to residents of the Northwest Territories, including youth. We do have community counsellors in most communities. Where they don't exist in communities, we can reach them by outreach. We have 1-800 numbers, a 24-hour help line; we have the ability to do psychiatric assessments and provide treatment.

Every community in the Northwest Territories has a community wellness plan. Many of their activities focus on supporting youth through on-the-land programs. We as a government fund different Aboriginal governments and organizations to deliver on-the-land programs. A number of them have opted for youth-focused programming.

There are some differences, Mr. Speaker. If the Member is referring to individuals under 18, we do have a number of treatment options available to them. We have some Northern specialized treatment resources, based in Yellowknife and Fort Smith, to provide treatment and education to youth under 18. We have some southern placements available for youth under 18 if our Northern facilities aren't appropriate. We have treatment centres with four different contracts. So there are a wide range of services available to all residents, including youth.

My understanding is that the department is currently working on developing a mental health and addictions action plan specific to youth, or for youth. Is this correct?

We've actually just almost concluded the work on a mental health and addictions framework here in the Northwest Territories, which I hope to share with committee either later this week or early next week and table it the week after. That framework outlines the parameters on which we're going to be moving forward on a number of items, including the development of a comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Youth, which we hope to get out as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell the House what is available for detoxification from alcohol and drugs,or alcohol or drugs?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the Government of the Northwest Territories when it comes to detox, we often refer to withdrawal management. There are basically two different streams of withdrawal management that are available. There's social withdrawal, which we are facilitating through counsellors and other NGOs throughout the communities across the Northwest Territories. Then there's also the medical detox component or the medical withdrawal management. That can be done in a number of different locations in the Northwest Territories, Inuvik and Yellowknife are the prime examples. So if somebody needs that medical withdrawal management, we can facilitate them within out hospitals here in the Northwest Territories.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aside from some of the counselling that goes on in the small communities and I guess sort of like a blueprint of what the wellness plans also bring to the communities, is there anything outside of that occurring in the small communities that's specifically trying to address the issues in the small communities relating to alcohol and drugs? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are variations across the Northwest Territories depending on the size of some of our smaller, more rural remote communities. Some of those communities do have mental health and addictions counsellors in them, some do not. All have access to our 24-hour hotline; all of them have access to professionals regardless whether they are there in person, by way of phone.

On top of that, Mr. Speaker, every community in the Northwest Territories has developed the community wellness plans, as I've mentioned before. Many, if not all, of those community wellness plans actually involve focus on youth, and those I believe are up on the website and available to anybody to read. But they focus on youth through things like on-the-land programming and other means of supporting youth who may be in crisis.

Having said everything that I've said, Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear that we acknowledge that there needs to be significantly more work done on youth mental health and addictions here in the Northwest Territories. That is the prime reason that we are moving forward with a very focused youth mental health and addictions action plan, so that we can ensure that our youth are receiving the services they need regardless of where they happen to be located in the Northwest Territories. This is a priority, this is a mandate item, and this is certainly something that we're moving forward. I look forward to working with committee, Members and the public as we attempt to address these challenges here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.