Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger. During a recent information session with Crack Busters on Monday, there were a few items that the addictions counsellors and Dr. Wheeler, who was there, had brought to our attention that I believe the government should be paying close attention to. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services a few questions. The first question is what type of public awareness and education is this government doing specifically to address the pitfalls of drug use? Thank...

Thank you very much, Mr. Premier. Does the committee agree that consideration of Ministers' statements 86-15(3), 88-15(3), 89-15(3), 90-15(3) and 91-15(3), and Tabled Document 108-15(3) are concluded?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. We have Mr. Zoe next.

Thank you very much, Mr. Yakeleya. I have Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I thank both the Premier and the Minister of Finance for their brief overview of the Northern Strategy. It does cover a tremendous amount of ground. I know I have 10 minutes here; I am going to try to cover the points that I feel I need to cover and then I will pass it on to some of my colleagues here.

The first thing is that I am still not 100 percent convinced of the Northern Strategy and how the Northwest Territories is going to be seen by the rest of the country as being different than Nunavut or being different than the Yukon. I know that both the Yukon and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would suggest that there is very little evidence that the RCMP have the resources and the manpower to try to tackle the problem that is hitting our youth, hitting our families and destroying people here in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice if he has had discussion with the RCMP with regard to the drug problem that faces the Northwest Territories. What have those discussions been? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need to work with community groups, yes, I agree with that. That type of work should happen, but we’re here today and we still don’t have treatment centres. How long is it going to take for the government to work with the community groups to get us the treatment centres that our communities are demanding and the residential care that our communities are demanding? How long is the work going to take? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister didn’t mention the fact that the government had anything specifically dedicated to drug use and the troubles that drug use brings to our youth and our families here in the Northwest Territories. The other item that they mentioned is what are we going to do as a government to address the long-term residential care that’s needed and the treatment that’s needed for these individuals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Agreed. I would like to thank you very much. Consideration of these documents is concluded and we will call for a short recess. Thank you.

---SHORT RECESS