Alfred Moses

As I said, he stated earlier that he didn’t feel the money could not be better spent other than talking about what we already know is a concern. With $300,000 we could hire a couple more nurses and designate some beds in the hospitals in Yellowknife and Inuvik or Norman Wells or Hay River for the people who need it. That’s where I’m trying to get the question. It’s very disheartening to sit on this side and listen to the Minister of Health make those comments and let us know that there are no detox beds in the Northwest Territories that he can confirm.

My second question is in terms of the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Minister of Health and Social Services made a Minister’s statement on a forum on addictions that happened last Friday here in Yellowknife. In fact, he was quoted on CBC that he said that people say that government doesn’t listen to them. Well, on this side of the House we often get that same type of feeling that government doesn’t listen to what we have to offer.

I believe this is about the third or fourth time we’ve done a theme day here on mental health and addictions. If not one, it was the other. The Minister’s statement last week has sparked a lot of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 13, An Act to Repeal the Credit Union Act, on November 1, 2012. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill.

The Credit Union Act is so out of date that it is inoperative. There have been no credit unions in the Northwest Territories since 1978. Meanwhile, changes to the federal legislation will soon enable NWT-based credit unions and national credit unions to operate here.

Bill 13 also deletes references to the Credit Union Act in two other territorial acts...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have all heard our Members’ statements, questions, the motion brought to the floor about how big of an issue this is to the people of the Northwest Territories. It goes way beyond the walls of the Legislative Assembly and the decisions that are made here. If I’m going to say one thing, and as we keep our fiscal responsibility in place and the status quo for programs and services, what else is going to be put in place for the status quo is the alcohol-related deaths: 49 percent suicides, 57 percent accidental, 76 percent homicides, which today, if actions were taken...

I really enjoy when the Minister speaks about addictions and gives us his point of view on things. He said immediate risk. We’re not always dealing with people who have immediate risk and, actually, as we know, in mental health workers, we are short on that and there’s a big waiting list in that sense as well.

The coroner’s report specifies that 49 percent of alcohol-related deaths are suicides. So there is a great correlation here. Until they have to be in immediate risk, then will we help them? No. That doesn’t make sense.

What is the Minister doing to ensure that we do have the medical...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really don’t know where to begin with this. Obviously, you know where my questions are going. The Minister stated earlier that he doesn’t feel that there’s no better use for the $300,000 for these discussion forums that are going on. I beg to differ, and I’m very concerned, and I do disagree, and I’m sure there are a lot of people in the medical field and justice system that would also be concerned with this attitude, as the Minister of Health and Social Services, that he feels that money cannot be better spent other than talking about what we already know is a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, No. 2, on November 1, 2012. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. The amendments were made necessary by the federal Safe Streets and Communities Act which set up a system of records suspensions to replace pardons in most instances.

The Canadian Human Rights Act has already been amended to prohibit discrimination based on a conviction for which a records suspension is in place. Bill 12 makes a similar change to our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, No. 2, and Bill 13, An Act to Repeal the Credit Union Act, and wish to report that Bills 12 and 13 are now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

That sounds like two detox beds for a situation that we have that’s very disastrous in the Northwest Territories under mental health and addictions, specifically alcohol abuse. In the statement, the Minister goes on and talks about a territorial treatment centre, followed by saying that we support communities and NGOs to provide community-based programs, and then he says, and send people to southern Canada to attend treatment programs. What’s wrong with the one we have here in the North? In fact, Mr. Speaker, I believe that our Territorial Treatment Centre is only about 50 percent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are on the Minister of Health and Social Service’s Minister’s statement that he made today. Obviously, it’s sparked a lot of concerns and questions on this side of the House in question period today.

In the statement that he made earlier, he made reference to the government offers addictions counselling through community wellness workers, mental health workers. Then he mentions detox programs. That caught my attention.

Can the Minister tell me what these detox programs are, where they are, and can he give me a specific example other than the emergency...