Julie Green

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we respond to requests and we make the services available in those debrief situations to the whole community so that there's confidentiality available. So crisis debriefs have been offered to key players in the flood response. And there are debriefs scheduled for Friday in the morning and the afternoon at the Hay River Recreation Centre. So I would appreciate the Member's help in making these known to his community so that people can choose to attend. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for an opportunity to highlight the responses and supports that are available. I'm sure this has been a very trying time for people in Hay River and more so as time goes on.

So the community counselling services, the Member may know, is located in the Jensen Building. It's open Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 5. No appointment is necessary. The counselling services are also on call 24/7 during an acute crisis such as the one now. There are virtual mental health resources available to residents as well, including things such as the Kid's Help Phone...

Abstain.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, harm reduction is certainly a focus for us and addiction services for youth really mirror the same that is offered to had adults.

And so just to briefly recap those offers, there's communitybased counselling through the community counselling program or through the child and youth care counsellors. It's the youth's choice which to access.

We have the 24/7 Help Line through the NWT Help Line, and then the kids help phone service which also includes a texting option.

We have apps that are specifically directed to children and families, such as the Strongest...

Yes, thanks. I think the Member is talking to the possibility that discussing addiction for youth would trigger protection concerns. That is not the case at present. If a family approaches child and family services, the first step would be a needs assessment followed by an offering of different options that the family could take advantage of and when they choose one, then a plan is tailored to that family and to the person who needs treatment.

We're working hard to combat this stigma that admitting any difficulty in parenting is going to trigger protection concerns. We are very dedicated to...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the suggestion and I'm prepared to take it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't offer an opinion on that. This is a first in Canada, the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. We're very interested in seeing what comes of this in BC. And of course because the toll of overdose deaths has been so huge in BC, we are hoping that it is successful in helping people to address the stigma of receiving treatment for illicit drug use. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that long list of health and addictions counsellors and wellness workers and so on, these are permanent staff in Hay River. And so they are there indefinitely. The additional resources really depend on the demand. So we are expecting there could be a surge in demand tomorrow after the or Friday, pardon me, after the community debriefings.

At this point, we haven't had an overwhelming response to our offer. But the resources are in place, and we encourage people who need them to use them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to say we have lots of capacity. There are two fulltime mental health and addictions counsellors, one fulltime child and youth care counsellor, one parttime practicum student, two community wellness workers, a clinic supervisor for CYCC, and a manager who also sees clients. Two additional mental health counsellors are arriving in Hay River from Fort Smith to facilitate community debriefings that are planned for later this week. We also, through HRSSA's communities counselling service, they attend the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre sharing...

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I became Minister of Health and Social Services in August 2020, I had the opportunity to add two personal priorities to the Premier’s mandate letter for me. One of the two was to reduce the toll of substance abuse on the residents of the Northwest Territories by leading a wholeofgovernment interdepartmental approach to developing evidencebased policies and programs and develop a robust addictions treatment aftercare regime, including a territorial alcohol strategy.

Mr. Speaker, I chose this priority for a couple of reasons. The first is that I am...