Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that information on the specific question that the Member has asked directly in front of me, but I am happy to get a response back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not a new issue. This is a longstanding one that's known anecdotally throughout the community. We hear about it all the time. Will the Minister take steps to investigate these concerns that have been brought forward by the community at that town hall and since; will the Minister take steps to investigate this and find legal remedies to prevent the sale of dangerous drug paraphernalia in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I've stood here many times and relayed my commitment to the Northwest Territories on my opinion around drugs and drug-related crime in the Northwest Territories. I am happy to look into the legality of selling this material in a corner store and will bring that information back to the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that commitment. Mr. Speaker, this could also be dealt with at the municipal level but I have heard loud and clear from our friends at the City of Yellowknife that they don't want more downloaded to them. So would the Minister also reach out to the City of Yellowknife and see how he can support the city in addressing this issue should it come to that? Essentially, if we find out that this is more of a bylaw issue, will the Minister find ways to support the city to make sure that they are not left solely responsible for cleaning up this problem, which is very much people preying on the drug crisis. It is totally inappropriate and not in line with our values as a community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly have indicated that I am willing to look into this to see what the legality of it is. We're not sure where it may fall in the process. So happy to do that, take that information, share that information, not only with the City of Yellowknife but with other affected communities across the Northwest Territories and see how we can work together to find a solution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.

So we've seen recently in the news that Camp Connections, which is the camp that has been run by the Foster Family Coalition for, you know, many children in care and others, that it has been cancelled for this summer and the general message that has been put out there is that it's due to either a lack of or some kind of cut in GNWT funding. And so I wonder if the Minister can clarify first, was the cancellation of this camp due to some cut or reduction in GNWT funding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Camp Connections has been funded through the anti-poverty fund historically, which is an application-based program. The eligibility requirements for that program have not changed so there have been no program changes. It's something that every year the coalition applies for. This year there were, as there generally is, many more requests for funding than there are funds and, unfortunately, the application received was not complete and we went back, asked for more information, and by the time we received that information the period had closed and decisions had already been made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so I know we've heard many testimonials from people who have attended the camp or worked at the camp and just how valuable and meaningful it was to them. Has the Minister perhaps worked with any other departments such as HSS to see if there could be any funding available to support sending children who are associated with the Foster Family Coalition, and certainly need our love and support, to help get this camp or something similar up and running again? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the middle of last month, health was informed by the Foster Family Coalition that they would not be proceeding with the overnight camp but that they would be looking to do some day programming. And at that time there wasn't a request for additional funding. Since the news articles have come out though, we've become aware of the situation from their perspective. And so we have -- health has reached out to look at -- to start a conversation about what other options might be available to get the overnight camp going. And from what I understand they're just waiting to hear back to continue those conversations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, continuing with the Member's statement that I raised today on behalf of my youth -- or sorry, the Frame Lake Youth Parliamentarian, I wanted to ask some questions of the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, what is the status of the wellness and recovery centre being built in Yellowknife. I know it was supposed to be finished in 2023; we're now in 2026. Can the Premier give us some good news today about when we might actually see that up and running.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Construction started in 2024. We expect construction to conclude later this year and for the building to become ready for occupancy in early 2027. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am sure my constituent and Youth Parliamentarian will be happy to hear that.

Mr. Speaker, is the government leading or funding any efforts to establish addictions counselling and treatment in the territory as argued for by our youth and by so many members of this Assembly and by the public? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course there are counsellors throughout the territory employed by the department of -- or by the health authorities, and so there's funding there. We also have the mental wellness and addictions recovery fund, I believe it's called. There's $3 million there, and that is to support Indigenous governments and communities to provide counselling services in their communities, and that could be on-the-land counselling. There's -- I won't say whether or not there's still money in there. I believe there could still be some funds available. And so we always encourage Indigenous governments especially to apply when we have bilateral agreements, or at the Council of Leaders we always talk about this as a way for treatment to be delivered in the communities. Of course, we also fund sending people to treatment centres if they're at that point in their life. We have detox beds at Stanton here. So there are a number of things that are happening. We're also supporting the Endacho Healing Society as they move towards -- work towards establishing a trauma healing centre in the territory. And, of course, we supported the Dene Wellness Warriors to bring a number of NWT residents through a program that they're putting on so that they could work in the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Premier for that answer. Mr. Speaker, finally, what additional supports for people experiencing homelessness have been established by this government in our community? Thank you. Of Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't want to step on the Minister of housing's toes but I can do a few remarks on this.

So a lot of work has gone into this area as well. The overnight shelters across the territory have seen pretty significant increases in their operating budget. Because I think we were expecting them to operate for a year on a shoestring budget that was unreasonable, and so we've made significant increases to that. Of course here in Yellowknife, there is the transitional housing that has been set up down by the Folk on the Rocks site. Last time I heard there were 22 individuals in there, and that many more had passed through. So there have been additional supports as well. We have supported the overnight shelters, like at the Salvation Army and other places in Yellowknife, to ensure there's beds available. So for example this winter, there were enough overnight beds for anyone who needed them, and there was actually excess most nights. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Mr. Premier.