Glen Abernethy

Just before I go to that question, I would just like to point out that, in the Northwest Territories, following up on the honourable Member for Yellowknife North, we are looking to put in a sobering centre here in Yellowknife, which I know is not a treatment centre, but it is certainly a step in the right direction to providing a local facilitybased type support to those individuals that are struggling.

The Member is right. We have facilitybased treatment programs that are available that can tend to be very clinical. Poundmaker's is really fantastic in the fact that it provides a lot of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to correct the honourable Member just a little bit. There are a multiple number of programs available to residents in the Northwest Territories. We have community counsellors throughout the Northwest Territories, we've been running on-the-land programs across the Northwest Territories with our Aboriginal partners. We have piloted and we're looking to do more pilots of a mobile treatment option, which is a treatment-type program that can move from region to region rather than relying strictly on a particular facility. We travelled throughout the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am happy to go back and go through each of those lines, but this is a consolidation page of all the other pages that we've gone through, and when we were discussing the other pages many of the Members asked questions of why did this go up or why did this go down and we answered a number of those questions at that time. So to answer that question, we'd probably have to go back through the departments because every division, every section, is having some increases and decreases as a result of forced growth, new initiatives, and those types of things. This is...

We funded FOXY and SMASH in a couple of different ways. We've given them money in previous fiscal years. I think it was in 2016 -- 2015-16 we gave $50,000 and I think last fiscal year we gave them $90,000; that was for some specific things they were doing in the organization. Their engagement in the validation exercise, we provided them with $25,000 so that they could reach out and we're looking at providing them $25,000 so they can reach out again this year. So there are multiple ways that money can flow to FOXY, but this $25,000 was to help engage in the validation exercise.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this revenue summary does not include the Canada Health Transfer. That Canada Health Transfer money goes into general revenues of the Government of the Northwest Territories, of which we receive over $440 million to provide health services. It also does not include new money that may be coming from the federal government based on these agreements, because we have not actually signed agreements on those.

What you will see, I think towards the back of the document, at 185, is a list of work performed on behalf of others. That is where those numbers will show up...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been asked a number of these questions similar to this over the last couple of days, but I will try to provide a fulsome answer for the Member. The department is taking a holistic approach, the development of a Youth Mental Health Action Plan to address the challenges that we are facing here in the Northwest Territories, but at no time have we stopped providing services to youth.

Community counselling is available to youth throughout the Northwest Territories. If it isn't located in your community, we have access to it through other means. The...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me on my left is Jeannie Mathison, director of finance, on my right Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think in the short term, we are not going to have any options but to consider them as two separate entities. I think in the long term, it would be great if we could find a way to co-locate them. At the end of the day, we need both services. If we cannot find a way to roll them into a single building with separate entrances because, once again, they are different programs, we have to absolutely, without question, be open to alternate locations.

Obviously, one of the reasons we are looking at co-locating is to get some economies of scale, and help us reduce and control...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, February 17, 2017, I will move that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Health and Social Services Professions Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government made a commitment in its mandate to enhance access to culturally-appropriate programs and services.

The last government convened a Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness to travel across the Northwest Territories and come back with recommendations that would have a real impact in dealing with addictions. The top priority identified by the forum was more on-the-land healing programs. This is the wisdom of our communities.

This wisdom is supported by research that confirms that a relationship with nature has positive benefits for physical and mental...