Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in one of my previous answers, I welcome this debate and discussion. If there is a concern with the plan that was agreed to previously in terms of mental health and addictions, and there is a need to amend it after two years of having it in place, then I am prepared to look at that through the work with the Social Programs committee. As all the Members know, we have to plan around any kind of capital expenditures that may be decided on or agreed to and look at the capacity of the current facilities and the resources and the manpower. So if there is a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the record, I would like to note clearly that we pay very close attention to the reports from the chief coroner, and in fact we respond in detail to all the recommendations that pertain to Health and Social Services, as I did on January 20, 2003, and July 14, 2003, in regards to the two inquests and the findings. Both those referenced medical detox. I welcome the debate in this House and hopefully outside of this House the discussion about addictions and the best way to deal with addictions. We have chartered off on a course of action through our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is a fairly broad question. If it is to deal with house construction, if it is to deal with actual program delivery, if it is to deal with specific client concern in the school, all would have access to different funding arrangements, different funding pots that may exist. There is also federal government money that may be available to do with the disabled as well. So there is a range of funding agencies out there that could be accessed by the community depending on what the particular circumstance is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a territorial organization for people with disabilities. In the communities, we have social workers and health care staff that work in the communities to assist people. We also have people in Income Support that work with people with disabilities. I know in housing-built units, they make them disabled-friendly where that is required in terms of ramps and such. I know when they designed the new seniors’ units, they are all designed to be disabled-useful and friendly. We have, across government, a number of services that are available for people...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a forum for debate, and, as Ministers, we often have to answer and respond to very often provocative and sometimes inflammatory comments, the way they are prefaced and the way they are laid out. We tend to do that in a measured way. The Member asked a question about the positions. I have committed in my last answer to finding out the detail. I will restate that commitment to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member makes comments that tend to diminish the work of people in the communities that have been working for years in the field -- wellness workers, addiction workers -- writing them all off as a disgrace, a waste of time, a disaster, it is not happening. Well, it is happening. Yes, there have been problems unfolding this and rolling it out and staffing all of the positions, but we have had more success than we have had failure in terms of staffing, and we are going to continue to work at it. We are going to continue to work at staffing all of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the term “near epidemic” has been used a number of times. I have seen it in the press, as well. The suggestion is that our response is going to be to just try to fix people once they are addicted. I would suggest that that is an incomplete response, that, very clearly, with the influx of drugs, there has to be a comprehensive response, trying to limit access, trying to convince people not to use it, trying to crack down on the people who are selling it as opposed to just focusing the attention on accepting the reality and let’s just try to fix people...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in fact, we do have arrangements with the Salvation Army. In fact, the Salvation Army now is approved for medical travel as well, which it hasn’t been in the past. I would be happy to provide the Members the detail of the various contractual arrangements we have with the Salvation Army. I would also like to acknowledge the work that they do, and that they are a very valuable resource. We are relying on them more and more because of their skills and abilities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would argue that we have responded, maybe not to the Member’s satisfaction or to the degree that he would think acceptable, but as we balance the many priorities, dementia units, shortage of housing, the fact that we have a budget that has to meet its fiscal targets that have been set by the Minister of FMBS, that we have responded. We responded in the best way we can with the resources we have. If there is an interest, as I have indicated, I am prepared to sit down and talk to the Members. I am prepared to talk to the stakeholders and the communities...

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, we have capacity at Stanton to do medical detoxification for alcohol and drugs. That’s what we have in place. It is not a formal withdrawal management unit but it is the capacity that we do have. There is also a social withdrawal program that is run through the Salvation Army and some local groups like Crack Busters that have started. If there is further more dedicated treatment, then we would be looking to southern jurisdictions if that is what is required, as we have done on a client-by-client basis so far. Thank you.