David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger, and it goes back to some of the things I alluded to in my Member's statement in that we have pieces of government infrastructure that are underutilized. The Somba K'e Lodge is one of those pieces of infrastructure. That building is not that old and it cost the government millions of dollars to construct and build, and it has sat empty I believe for a lot longer than six months, as I had mentioned earlier.

The question I have for Mr. Miltenberger is why his department isn't...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Mr. Minister, for that. Being a new Member, it would be interesting to see what the real numbers are and have those two to compare these to. Just as a comment, Mr. Chairman, I would hope that the same budgeting process isn’t being used for the North Slave Correctional Centre that just was moved into in March and we won’t be faced with a supp sometime next year saying that the heating and the power and the maintenance costs on that are double of what was budgeted. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. With all the economic activity that’s happening in the Northwest Territories, the jobs, the money that flows from that, I mean, a strong economy is a good thing, but it also has some detrimental effects on society as a whole. Drug addiction is one of those detrimental effects, Mr. Speaker. I’m just wondering if the Minister has given any thought to the establishment of a dedicated drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment centre in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Then where would we find the actual budgeted amounts for that hospital? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Michael Miltenberger. Could the Minister outline for us how an individual that is addicted to cocaine or crack cocaine is dealt with? Which processes do they follow and what help is there for them in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wonder if the Minister of Public Works has sent a message to the employees who were involved and the contractor who was involved. This is completely unacceptable, Mr. Chairman, that they could miss a budget by double. It’s completely double what the original budgeted estimate was. If the letters haven’t been sent, I don’t know what the corrective action is or how you take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again, but it’s completely ridiculous. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to use my Member's statement today to draw some attention to a problem that is plaguing many of our residents. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is addiction.

I recently had the opportunity to help a constituent of mine, who has a very serious addiction to crack cocaine. This individual had no place to turn to address this addiction. Through the Minister’s office we were able to find her a program in the South that will help her try to break this cycle of dependency. I would like to thank the Minister for his help in that. She will get help, but how many other...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The case that I bring up might be hypothetical, but there’s a real case that this government has spent upwards of $10 million on one that involved an employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories and, to be honest, Mr. Chairman, I want to ensure that the government does not have to pay out this type of money in lawsuits and litigation charges in the future. I want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to cover ourselves off against expenditures like that. Thank you.

Thank you. I will now go to general comments. Do members have any general comments on Bill 7?

Mr. Menicoche.