Thank you, Madam Chair. What time is that agreement going to be signed off on? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. I expect it to be signed this summer.

Thank you. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, just in regards to community clinics and health centres in my riding, you know, my nursing staff are really run ragged. They're tired. And I'm really hoping that we could, you know, not only compensate them, I guess, but try to get them a little bit of help for the communities of Tuk and Paulatuk, Ulu and Sachs, because they're really been -- they've took the brunt of this over the last two years, and I'm hoping that there's a way that we could try to help them out and, you know, put relief nurses in there to help them out so they could have a little bit of rest too. That's just a comment on that, Madam Chair.

Community mental wellness and addictions recovery plan. You know, we've been -- in my riding over the last year, I had a lot of suicides and mental health is the biggest thing. We've been having mental health issues since COVID, and it's only been getting worse in the communities. So people need help. We need to see people coming in, like, motivational speakers and like stuff I've been working on to try to get our youth engaged and our middle aged and our elders. Like, you know, they've been really put in a tough position because mental health, and it only leads to addiction. The addiction part, you know, of alcohol and the drugs, and we're getting new drugs in the communities. Like, we're getting crack cocaine and cocaine in my riding. And that's going to stop. And I think -- I think what we do have to do is we really have to try to work together in holding -- working with the GNWT, working with our side of the House, and working with the IRC, I guess, to try to provide something like that because I -- you know, again, thank you for this past year for the assistance that you give the mayor of Tuk and the community of Tuktoyaktuk and what we've been through there. But thank you for that. And I just want to work with you, Madam Minister, in regards to doing something like that, again, because it's starting to come -- like, sun's back now. It's not as bad. But still it's still bad in regards to people need help. That's a comment for that.

But so under contributions, the anti-poverty fund, the child and family service fund, the community-based suicide prevention fund, the healthy family program, the mental wellness and addictions recovery fund, in regards to all of that under contributions, how do we hold the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation or the funds that we have available, how do we hold them accountable in regards to showing us our bang for our buck what we're getting; how do we do that? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. So the IRC I know has used mental wellness and addictions recovery funding to fund Project Jewel. And I believe that they report on that annually. I don't know if they've done their own evaluation of that program but we would certainly welcome them doing that because it is a program that's been around for quite a while.

I think it's fair to say that the mental health needs of the population of the planet have escalated since the pandemic began, and people are struggling to keep up with the demands for counselling and other kind of supports. We have community counselling. We have apps for people who have connectivity and the interest in that and so on. We're trying to develop an approach that has a lot of different pieces to it.

With respect to the IRC in particular, they've developed their own suicide prevention strategy, and officials at the Department of Health and Social Services have met with the IRC to talk about how we can help them implement their suicide strategy. And I'm very impressed with that strategy, and I encourage other Indigenous governments to look at it and use it as a template for creating a regional response to mental health and suicide needs in their communities. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, thank the Minister for that. In regards to the community-based suicide prevention, is our government looking at making our own in regards to, like -- when something like that happens, like, putting in -- making a -- how we're getting doctors or psychiatrists to come into the community for the impacts that happened for the -- like, for a short term, you know, to help alleviate the pressure on the families and individuals. Is there a plan in place like, you know, for the Beaufort Delta for something like that? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. When there's a suicide in a community, obviously it affects the whole community, and I personally reach out to community leadership and ask how they want to be supported. And in the case of Tuktoyaktuk last fall, they told me that they wanted to bring in Jordan Tootoo as a speaker and to launch the House of Hope in Kitty Hall to provide things for the youth to do. It is youth mostly involved. And also to provide them with inspiration to fend off the darkness and depression. So this fund is about money that communities can apply for. The interventions that happen after a suicide, or potentially even an attempted suicide, those are in the operational budget of the NTHSSA. There is a team. They can be called into operation on short notice to go in and support a community, provide extra counsellors, spell off people who are exhausted, and so on. So we kind of have a number of different approaches to this. Some of it comes directly from our staff and some of it goes to the communities to develop their own responses.

Thank you. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, just one last quick question. The mental health wellness recovery capacity and in regards to sending out people in for treatment, we need to be working more of that with the smaller communities that people are asking for treatment and being able to have -- make it easier for them to get to treatment. I think that we have to really try to get this one sorted out because the mental illness in regards to, you know, anxiety and depression and all this, it has to be -- we have to take it on full steam ahead in regards to try to help the people. So I think if we -- if the Minister's okay with that, I mean we could start -- we're working on community tours with Jordan Tootoo again and for doing the whole Delta and getting everybody motivated and happy. Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. This particular fund was new in this fiscal year, and the object of the fund is to build capacity within the NWT to provide mental wellness and addictions recovery support. I don't have any information yet on how much of that was taken up.

With respect to treatment, there are in territory and out of territory options. It's really up to the individual to speak with a counsellor and look at the options and decide what's best for them. And we don't have any limits on that fund. People can go to treatment more than once. They can go more than once in a year. They can go to a different place the second time than they did the first time. We're very committed to helping people achieve their wellness and to improve the supports when they get back to the territory to hold on to that wellness. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go and talk a bit about addictions recovery. In Hay River, you know, we know that we've had a number of people who have passed away due to overdoses, and then we've had some from the community who also passed away that they weren't in the community at the time. So we probably had at least ten. And it's -- you know, it's a big issue and it continues on because personally, like I've taken people to the health centre to, you know, to look for detox services. But, again, like the deputy minister said, there's no dedicated beds. You may not have a doctor or a physician on staff and so they're basically just told to go home and maybe come back later. And that's a big issue.

The other problem that we're having as well is that, you know, we talk about treatment, and we just don't have -- we don't have the facility here. We do have facilities down south. But the wait time, that's the part that's -- that is the killer, I guess, is people, you know, in between -- actually if they're lucky enough to detox and then by the time they go to treatment, they probably relapsed a number of times. And then that's the other issue. You know, we have no place for people who might think they're going to relapse, nowhere to go and get support for a day or two.

So I'd like to just ask the Minister how many treatment beds do we have available in the south for northern people? Are there a dedicated number of beds in treatment centres down south, or are we just put on a waitlist like everybody else? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. I'd like to answer a number of different points the Member made. So starting with the wait times, the average wait time for a bed in a southern treatment facility is 23 days. We don't contract dedicated beds. 23 days is, in most cases, less time than people waited to get into Nats'ejee K'eh because Nats'ejee K'eh ran one month of women, one of men, one month of women, one month of men. So if you applied -- let's say you're a woman and you applied on week two, you would be waiting six weeks to get into Nats'ejee K'eh. So the wait times, if anything, are better than they used to be.

Nobody goes into a health centre and says they want to detox and told to go home and good luck to you. That is not a thing. Not every person detoxing requires a bed. For example, people who are detoxing from opioids need opioid antagonist therapy. And there are 50 plus people in Hay River taking that therapy. So it's a replacement for the opioid, and more in Yellowknife, another 50 in Yellowknife who are doing that.

So the detox required really depends on the substance that the person is addicted to. But nobody gets told good luck. That would not be an appropriate response from the healthcare staff. The other thing I want to mention is that we had a request for proposals out to have communities develop aftercare programs, specifically transitional housing programs for people to live in when they come back from treatment.

We had responses from four communities, including Hay River. The models are due by the end of this month. They're be reviewed, and then the models will be funded as pilots in the next round of business plan planning. That's my understanding. So we are trying to provide a robust approach, knowing that this is an area that people are having concerned about, especially where it is literally a life and death situation as it is with the poisoned drug supply in Hay River.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I apologize to the Minister, I might have embellished a bit there when I said good luck. So I apologize for that. But, you know, it is tough for, you know, people who are looking for detox when there are no dedicated beds. They are put in the health centre and they may -- they may or they may not be provided a bed. But they need that support, especially when they decide it's -- you know, they want to be there. And some of them will go in, I know, and they will maybe last a day and they'll get out again and go right back to what they were doing.

The other thing that I noticed as well and -- is that -- and I think that would really benefit people who are looking at detoxes. We need probably additional -- or more Indigenous people, you know, providing services to those that are looking for it. Because I find that, you know, even with myself, you know, when I'm dealing with the people that are, you know, on the street or homeless, I think that, you know, I'm hoping and I sense that they feel comfortable with me and they actually kind of listen to me probably a little more than they would to somebody else. So I think it's important that, you know, we take that cultural aspect into play when we're trying to provide these services.

But, you know -- and I understand we have -- you know, we -- you know, not having a treatment centre here -- and I know that even if we had one, like the Minister said, there'd only be a certain number of beds. We're trying to accommodate everybody, and it won't happen. So we have to do something different, and that's in providing the beds down south. I've got no problem with that. I know some of the people I talk to like to go south, and you know, it's away from everything; it's away from, you know, some of the people they know. And I know others don't want to go. But at the end of the day, we do have access to detox beds in the south and treatment centres. We also have -- we have -- you know, we have access to programs as well in the territories and, you know, we try and encourage people to go to those. But I think at the end of the day, it's that -- it's that period between detoxing and waiting to get out.

Like, I had talked to one guy the other day and I know he's going to -- he says he's going to treatment. And -- but he says he's going to drink as much as he can until he actually goes. And -- but when he comes back he says he's going to be -- that's it, he's finished. And I'm hoping because I told I'd keep him, you know -- I'd make sure that, you know, I would push him not to drink anymore. So it's just that -- it's just those lapse -- those lapse in time or the -- you know, the time in between, you know, actually getting into a bed, detoxing, and then waiting for your time to get into a facility. And that's -- that's kind of where that relapse happens and other issues come up and they have time to think about it, they feel a little bit better and they feel like they don't need it. So I think somehow we've got to -- we've got to close that gap in time and try to get people out sooner than later. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you. So the bed availability, that would be subject to triage like all of the health services. So if you have somebody detoxing from alcohol, that's a life and death situation. So the triage there, the triage score would be high versus somebody who would not be feeling the same effects of withdrawal.

I think that providing people with choices is the most important thing. When I toured the treatment centres in 2018, I came away having met people who were happy to be away from their community, their triggers, their -- you know, their colleagues who were kind of partners in misery. So I think that there are others, of course, who would prefer to stay here. So having choices is really important. And, you know, there have been some preliminary conversation with the NWT Council of Leaders about what a regional approach to this could look like. And some regions, as you know, have treatment facilities. Like, the Gwich'in have the Gwich'in healing camp.

So the community funds can be used to set up detox. If there was a group that was willing to take that on, it's possible to spend the money on that. I recognize that that's a difficult period for everybody between the commitment to sober up and actually doing it while they're waiting for some kind of external support. That is certainly a key time. So it would be worth trying that and maybe in your region because these funds are Indigenous government led that K'atlodeeche First Nation might be interested in trying something like that.

So I think there's a lot of scope here for new ideas and approaches to best meet the needs of people, and we've been trying to change along with the new approaches, for example, by funding the Northern Wellness Warriors Program, which brought 15 Indigenous northern people into the counselling workforce. And as you may know, they're going to have another group go into training this fall, and the training will be delivered in the North. So we need to keep working in this area knowing that the needs are great and that there are good approaches out here to try and help people. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.