Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Martin. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I kind of want to move on here and it was something I talked about the other day in questions I asked the Minister during session, is to do with you know, we know that we know that the waiting lists are long and in the community, and Hay River especially. And, you know, we were supposed to get a couple units; I haven't seen them on the ground yet. And I guess just a general question is, you know, how much work is going in to really planning for additional accommodation in communities? Like, Hay River, for instance, we have that piece of land where known as...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm hoping this is I can ask this question. It's to do with homelessness. And you know, we've been spending the department's been spending a lot of money on providing services throughout this pandemic, and I think more so than they have in the past, because I know in Hay River, you know, we didn't really have anything in place for a men's shelter. In this last two years we have. So and it's worked out pretty good. We've been looking at approximately maybe, you know, between six to eight people that require the service. And we've had you know, we've had two years...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the response from the Minister. It was noted that we'd have to see what the value added of a building would be to the to those that would need it. I always and I'd ask there what's the value of a life? And we've lost too many lives over the past several years, and think that, you know, this discussion is an important one and it's got to start somewhere. And we can't brush it off and, you know, pass it on. So again, I ask the Minister will she commit to opening up this discussion and furthering it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions will be for the Minister of Health. Indigenous people are those mostly being impacted by addictions. I hear many say they want treatment to happen in the NWT. Then we hear a nonIndigenous bureaucracy tell us we are wrong. Will the Minister listen to the Indigenous community and commit to the establishment of treatment facilities starting in regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate that. I'm glad to hear that, you know, we are we're not just, you know, ignoring the what's happening out there and that we are doing something, that your department is doing something. So that's good news.

And I guess the next question there is I know the Housing Corporation at one point was talking about providing a service that would allow the authorities or associations within the communities to I guess to be a type of retailer or sort of a retailer for you know, say, for plumbing, a little bit of lumber and that, where that doesn't exist in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those that come to grips with the fact they need treatment find themselves placed on waitlists for openings in southern treatment centres. And I know that, because I've got relatives that are they come to me and they got to wait for a month or two months or maybe even a few weeks or two days, and sometimes a day is too long. So, you know, we have to do something. So what do I tell them? I'd ask the Minister, what can I tell them to provide them some hope that we're going to be there to provide them the services that they need in a timely manner so that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for her response. And, you know, I think that addictions and treatment of addictions is a priority of this government, and providing the services in the regional centres and in the communities is very important. And, again, I say that the Indigenous community wants to see facilities that they can attend within the Northwest Territories.

So, again, I ask the Minister will she commit to talking with Indigenous organizations, Indigenous governments, and Indigenous people to confirm that is what they want and move forward with looking and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past several months the NWT has many young people to drugrelated deaths. They were sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and friends. Why do we continue to let this happen?

Mr. Speaker, whether we call these drugrelated deaths an overdose or murder, the fact remains that these young people have been taken from their loved ones. Their families will have to live with the devastating fact that they have lost someone special to a disease that is remorseless and unrelenting, not only for individuals but for families and the community as well.

'We know it is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, we have these I understand we have these agreements. And you know, we have the claims agreements as well. Yet, you know, I look at, you know, case law, you know throughout Canada and throughout the US and, you know, there's been issues that have arisen. So I just want to make sure, you know, your department and this government is prepared, you know, to ensure that water flowing into the Northwest Territories is protected and do everything we can, whether it's through agreements, through the claims, it's through the courts, whatever we have to do, and we have to...