Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For my Member's statement today, I will be joining my colleagues on the topic of addictions and mental health. Specifically, I will be focusing on the after-care component of addictions services. In a Member's statement last March, I spoke about the need for more after-care services to be made available locally to the people of the NWT. That's because there is currently an inefficient amount of after-care services being offered to NWT residents upon their return home from treatment centres in the south.

Mr. Speaker, when individuals return to their home communities from addictions treatment, it can be extremely challenging for some people to readjust to normal, everyday life. With the structure and routine of treatment suddenly gone, when they return home, people can easily slip back into their addictions if sufficient after-care services are not available. That's simply the nature and cycle of people struggling with addiction and is a gap that we, as a government, must fill and address.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, on October 27, 2020, during question period, I asked the Minister of Health and Social Services about expanding after-care services in the NWT. Specifically, I suggested the idea to build an after-care facility in three different regions of the Northwest Territories: one in the South Slave region, one in the central region, and one in the Beaufort-Delta region. As I stated, this type of addictions service is sorely needed across all regions of the NWT. Therefore, I strongly suggest that our government work to improve this lacking component of addictions services. I know that all NWT residents would greatly benefit from improvements in this area.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, my hope is that this government will not only hear my concerns about after-care services but will, more importantly, work to address these concerns during the life of the 19^th Assembly. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.