Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank my honourable friend for his comments. I think he has done an excellent job of summarizing the concerns many of us have with the budget and areas that need improvement. I will just repeat a few of those.

The Regular Members have asked for $500,000 for youth-in-crisis funding and to support a mobile crisis intervention team to address our atrocious rates of suicide, and especially suicide affecting young people in our communities; another $500,000 in anti-poverty funding to support our NGOs in delivering what I would say are essential services to our communities in supporting the objectives of reducing and ultimately eliminating poverty in the Northwest Territories; and, of course, perhaps the most important aspect this government needs to focus on, $1.5 million for homecare funding. This would be a way to roll out more homecare workers into each of our communities and to support transportation services for seniors and elders who have mobility issues and need to access these services. It is no secret that our population is aging and aging at a rapid pace that our healthcare system can't keep up with. We need to invest in sustainable solutions, which start with prevention.

I think there are good things in this budget. The work done to date on homelessness, and especially homelessness affecting Yellowknife, which is where my riding sits, is commendable and is a really good start. The sobering centre is a foundational project that can lead to other initiatives like a managed alcohol program and other services like that that currently have no home. I am looking forward to the success of these projects. With that being said, we still need to do work on those other areas.

Mental health is becoming increasingly important. Having quality and effective mental health supports will allow us to reduce the rates of addiction, the rates of suicide, increase productivity and employability. It all stems from properly supporting mental health, and I think we are still coming to grips with it.

We see a lot of action plans, a lot of strategies, and the department does not appear to be in a position to really move in an impactful way apart from those action plans and strategies. We need to do more, and we certainly are in a position, as we've discussed as a committee, to start funding some of these initiatives now. Hopefully, the department will be in a position to take that funding and do something with it sooner than later. In particular, our young people are in crisis and they need the support that they can't find at home. We need to offer a helping hand and ensure that they have healthy, safe communities. I look forward to further discussion of this budget and the long-term goals of the Department of Health and Social Services. Thank you.