Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the best thing the Member can do is refer his constituents to the community counselling program. That's really the gateway to all services related to addictions and aftercare. And so I would invite him to do that. I also want to caution him that having a northern treatment centre is no guarantee that there won't be waitlists.
When Nats'ejee K'eh operated on the Hay River Reserve, there was a month of men's programming followed by a month of women's programming. So if you missed the intake for your gender programming, you could wait up to eight weeks until the cycle started again so that you could go into the treatment program that was appropriate for yourself.
And I also want to add that during the time that Nats'ejee K'eh operated, it was never more than one-third full. There were people who preferentially wanted southern treatment because they wanted to get away from the circumstances of their addiction in the North, and they wanted additional privacy.
So this is a very complicated conversation. It's not just a matter of writing up an RFP for a building. There are many considerations about how a treatment centre would work, how it would be funded, and who would use it. I appreciate the question. Thank you.