Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As per my earlier notice, I’d like to table Wise Words, Volume 4, Issue No. 2, January 2014.

For years we’ve heard how we have to bump up our mental health services and resources in order to get that wellness court and now we’re saying no, no, it’s all up to Justice to come up with the bucks for it. It just makes sense to me that the major part needs to be mental health services. So I guess I heard 0.5, a half a person here is what the Minister is committing to this wellness court business at some point in time perhaps. I mean, this is shameful after years of discussions and the passing of motions in this House. When will this mental health and wellness court actually happen on a...

Mr. Chair, I would point out that this is not a new situation. This hasn’t just appeared or anything like that.

Moving on, the health and social services authorities administration I see has made a substantial leap this year from the last two years when it’s been almost identical. I’m wondering: is there a particular reason for that? Does that have to do with maybe the shift of shared services staff or something like that? Is there an obvious and apparent reason for that increase? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, these people are trying to turn their lives around. They have taken the first steps, but then they find themselves at a dead end.

Could the Minister confirm that the Housing Corporation has integrated its programs with the Transitional Housing programs, and that clients in transitional housing will be prioritized for appropriate public housing above the clients who are homeless who could then be put into transitional housing? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s, frankly, gobbledegook that this Cabinet has the power to move around money and reallocate it. We’ve asked a number of times for the Minister of Finance to give us clarity on where that’s possible from his perspective. So, yes, I think committee members are certainly well aligned with reasonableness with this proposal. They may not agree with it, but totally in line. Mahsi.

Is that part of what the Minister was talking about with these three positions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up with my statement earlier today with questions to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. We are making some progress on transitional housing here in Yellowknife. We have the Bailey House, transitional housing run by the YWCA, and the Betty House is under construction.

Could the Minister remind us what the Housing Corporation’s understanding of the purpose of these transitional housing units is? Mahsi.

That’s correct.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Very briefly, I support this motion. I’d also like to note that it’s not really just prevention we’re talking about. We have a situation now, so we obviously need a lot of on-the-ground action right now while we are conducting or planning and putting in place a good comprehensive program of both prevention and treatment.

I’d also like to mention that we really should be promoting a dental therapist training program at Aurora College, so I’m hoping that the Minister of ECE is listening and will start to give some serious attention to developing that program, as well, if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to quote a story from the YWCA’s most recent newsletter, which I will table later today. The title is “Living at Rockhill: It made a big difference being here.”

The article reads:

“My boyfriend and I were living at the Ptarmigan Apartments with our son. He’s now two and a half. Rent was $1,675 a month and we started getting behind. Only one of us was working because we couldn’t afford daycare at $800 per month plus rent.

I heard about the Transitional Housing Program and called. They gave us the opportunity of living in an emergency unit for three...