Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to salute my constituent Germaine Arnaktauyok on the occasion of her national recognition with the highly prestigious Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. Germaine Arnaktauyok is one of only eight recipients of the 2021 award organized by the Canada Council for the Arts to celebrate the exceptional careers of Canadian artists. As the Governor General's award citation says, "Germaine Arnaktauyok's contribution to Canadian art is significant. She has been a serious artist for over 60 years and has continued to explore and develop artistically...

We recognize the value of the program at the Spruce Bough. It manages two best practices together, which is the managed alcohol program, dealing with addiction and homelessness at the same time. The department has renewed its funding with the Spruce Bough until the end of September 2021. The idea is that in the next six or seven months the department will work with the Yellowknife Women's Society to explore options for continuing this program once the pandemic funding expires.

The rental office is a division of the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd just like to take a moment to thank the MLA for researching my previous statements in this area when I was a Regular Member. I stand by my statements about the need for harm reduction and that addictions are not a moral failing; they're a health issue. Having said that, I am in support of managed alcohol programs. He referenced the fact that they were offered during the pandemic. That's the case. It was trying not to double the problem so that you had both people who were isolated because of the pandemic and then also in alcohol withdrawal.

At this point, alcohol is...

There is a medical social worker, at least one, maybe two, at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and they do discharge-planning with people who are leaving the hospital with all kinds of health needs, including mental health needs. The idea of the discharge-planning is to connect that person who is leaving the hospital with other supports that he might need or she might need, whether that is counselling, family physician, or other types of medical and counselling services that are relevant to them. They recommend it; whether the person decides to take that up is really up to them. When we are...

The suicide prevention fund is part of a shared health priorities agreement with the federal government. We're now in year four of a 10-year agreement. The funding is secure for the next six years at a minimum. Since the fund was announced about 10 days ago, there has been a lot of interest expressed. One proposal is in hand. More are anticipated by the end of this month. What we are doing because timing is very short here is that, where possible, we are giving the money this year to provide programming by the end of the fiscal year. Then if that is not possible, then we are supporting people...

It could go either way, depending on the judgment of the nurse whom the patient sees. It may be necessary, depending on the level of alcohol dependency, to bring that person into Stanton, or they may be able to stay in their own community. I will just say again that the vast majority of people do not need the facilities at Stanton for detox, so it would really be however it's decided on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's important to note that, in this area, the vast majority of individuals do not need medical detox prior to beginning treatment. When they do require detox, there are several options: one is to detox at the treatment location or with the facility that's related to the treatment location. Another option is to detox in the Northwest Territories, either through a local health centre or through the hospital with the support of a case manager who would be assisting that person in the treatment application, facility-based treatment.

Mr. Speaker, we do not have a one-day...

We are now in year three of four of the children and youth care counselling program, which is a joint initiative with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and those counsellors are in place throughout Yellowknife and north to the Beaufort Sea. The last area that will be brought online is the South Slave. We have the Community Counselling Program, which is available in 19 communities, and then available in different ways such as telephone, virtual, and occasional visits to the remaining communities. We have the dedicated funds of on-the-land healing, peer support and suicide...

The Department of Health and Social Services and, more particularly, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, Tlicho Community Services Agency, and Hay River Health and Social Services Authority are the operational arm that provide these services. Non-government organizations are pretty thin on the ground outside of the major centres. That's why the government is delivering this.

The Community Counselling Program, which I spoke about earlier, is available to NWT residents of all ages on all topics. There is a mental health and addictions worker located in Fort Providence...