Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've now been in this role long enough that I've seen many of my constituents break the cycle of addiction and break the cycle of homelessness. And, Mr. Speaker, I cannot thank the work of countless staff in our non-profits who have helped my constituents along this journey. But, Mr. Speaker, our non-profits and NGO, who provide services that are essential to government, are stretched so thin you can see through them. And sadly, when we ask our non-profits to run these services, they are struggling to get staff as many of their staff are leaving for higher GNWT wage jobs, Mr. Speaker. We continue to see an uptake in clients needing mental health and recovery programs in the post-COVID world, Mr. Speaker. And many of our non-profits are picking up the slack on this, and we need to support them.

Today, on my statement I'd like to focus in on one nonprofit, and that is the Salvation Army, Mr. Speaker. The Salvation Army, they have the mental health program which helps the needs of 24 people with very complex mental health needs, and I know if this program didn't exist it's inevitably a bill that the Department of Health and Social Services would have to pick up at a much higher cost. However, Mr. Speaker, they have not seen an increase in funding for that program in eight years.

Just up one floor, they have their withdrawal management service, Mr. Speaker; a program that is essential in helping people get off alcohol, go to a southern treatment centre, and they've recently expanded it to have six months of support after. I know the priority of aftercare in this government, but that is another program that has not changed funding in over seven years, Mr. Speaker.

We can't keep asking our non-profits to run programs without an increase in funding and with support.

And if you go one building over, Mr. Speaker, there's the Bailey House. The Bailey House provides three years of transitional housing support. I have seen many of my constituents use the Bailey House as support to get into permanent housing and end homelessness. However, Mr. Speaker, that program has not seen an increase in funding since 2009.

Mr. Speaker, this is not just one nonprofit. This is how many of their budgets look. We do not increase their funding with inflation. We do not review these contracts. And at some point, if someone has been providing a service for over a decade and we know it's working, we need to turn that into block funding, guarantee it, and make sure it increases every year along with inflationary pressures. I'll have questions today for the Minister of Finance on how we can accomplish that goal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.