Thank you, Madam Chair. I know that in many of the small communities, lately we've been seeing a lot of young people, you know, fatalities involving young peoples with -- you know, in the fatalities where it all involves alcohol, drugs, you know, the addiction issues. We have a lot of issues in small communities. And even in Yellowknife, we have issues with addiction. Living in Yellowknife compared from the 70s, 80s, 90s, it's not the same no more. It's not safe to walk downtown Yellowknife because there's all kind of other people, you know, on the street. And especially -- and the people that we see there are all Indigenous. And in our communities, in many of the small communities, it's all -- they're all Indigenous, just like what my colleague said, you know. And we do have lot of addiction issues. We have a lot of mental health issues in small communities. And we know where that problem came from and how we got there. And like I've said in the past before, that these were not an issue before. So I just wanted to ask the Minister or, you know, it's more of a comment too. If he wants to answer, that's great, that's okay with him. But what I would like to see if this money, you know -- when we get this money, what I would like to see is that for the money to be shared with the Indigenous government. Will the Minister -- will they -- you know, like can we get any commitment or anything like that to see, or what their thoughts is on this because like I said, the addiction is not going to go away any time soon unless we do something about it. And we all know someone -- in our communities, we know someone in our families. And we had -- we even have some young people that are, you know, driving under the influence of, you know -- well alcohol, but a lot of them are driving under the influence of drugs too as well. We know that. I know that they are legal, marijuana is legal but we know that there's a lot of them are doing that, driving under the influence. So I know we need to do more. And especially with drinking and driving. And there was -- there is a court case. It was yesterday. So, you know, like I mean it's not just individuals. There's the whole family. Everybody is, you know, not just the whole family, but there's friends, the community are affected by the whole process. And you guys seen or heard about what happened in my region, one in another small community that just recently happened and another that happened in May and another one that happened in 2021. The court case, you know, just finished yesterday. So I just wish that this government would do more to help our people. And with this, with this opioid -- with this money, I would like the government to share this with the Indigenous governments so they can deal with their problems, with the issues that's affecting them in the small communities, in the regions. Thank you.
Jane Weyallon Armstrong on Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on June 1st, 2023. See this statement in context.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
June 1st, 2023
Page 6317
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