Mr. Speaker, after-care is prevention. It helps residents successfully navigate life outside treatment to reduce cyclical use of institutional care and maintain personal wellness. I say "wellness" and not "sobriety," Mr. Speaker, because after-care is not exclusive to addictions treatment. After-care is the network of relationships and community support essential to success after institutional care.

The GNWT invests a significant amount of money in the wellness of residents through a variety of institutional care. For example, the GNWT budgeted $35 million on supportive living in facilities outside the NWT; $28 million to provide safe custody and supervision of adult and youth offenders; almost $19 million on community wellness and addictions; and over $2 million on addictions treatment facilities outside the NWT. That's over $84 million invested in variations of institutional care budgeted in the 2020-2021 Main Estimates.

While the process of care varies, the after-care goal is the same: safe and healthy reintegration into a person's home community, rooted in personal and community wellness. Regardless of what is driving the need, whether it is to maintain sobriety after addictions treatment or remain on the right side of the law after incarceration, the pillars that build effective after-care are the same: stable housing; consistent income; and physical and mental wellness of both the resident and their family. People working to maintain sobriety after treatment often experience ongoing systemic issues that challenge their ability to maintain personal wellness. They have difficulty finding a job that can support them, face barriers to secure safe and affordable housing, and struggle to find their fit within their community and family. People leaving our correctional facilities and those with cognitive disabilities returning from institutional care face the same barriers. Our vulnerable populations are the most expensive people to not care for, and may potentially cycle through government care without proper support.

If after-care needs are consistent, why not bring together an after-care team focused on wellness to preserve the GNWT's investment in the quality of life of Northerners and its bottom line? Sourcing safe and stable housing, helping people find meaningful employment, and community involvement in establishing community-based support networks are absolutely an additional investment, but they are more affordable than cycles that find people reinstitutionalized and ultimately leads to healthier communities, and that is an investment worth making. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.