Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of this Assembly's mandate items is to establish a managed alcohol program and a medical detox program by the spring of 2023. We expect that such programming will reduce hospitalizations due to alcohol by 30 percent. This is one of my favourite mandate items. I believe it shows a switch in mentality that this government is ready to put harm reduction at the core of our programs. There was much debate about managed alcohol programs in the last Assembly, but there was little progress on it.

During COVID-19, we saw a number of our service providers take the initial...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This has been one of the longest sessions, I think, in legislative history, a very long session, and I'm happy to move the motion to bring it to an end today.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Friday, June 12, 2020, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, October 15, 2020;

AND FURTHER, that at any time prior to October 15, 2020, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly that the public interest requires that the...

This was in the mandate as spring of 2023, which I thought was a little too long. I am always happy to hear that we are actually beating a mandate commitment. I want to commend the department and the Minister for all the work and the pressure that COVID has put on this. One of my issues is that the programming we are offering right now is linked to people isolating due to COVID, and I understand that. When a constituent comes to me and asks what kind of detox programs are available, what kind of addictions counselling is available, I want to know when I will be able to refer them to a managed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, I am very happy to see the mandate item: to establish and manage alcohol programs and a medical detox program. During the COVID-19 response, we saw a number of organic beginnings of a managed alcohol program that disabilities council provided a number of the people quarantining with daily alcohol in addition to Aspen Apartments, when people were isolating, were provided with alcohol. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services: is there any intention to grow these programs into a proper medical managed alcohol program? Thank you...

The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the questions I'm asking are highly technical, and I have resorted to asking them on the floor of the House because, after numerous requests, I have not got that data, so I'm really looking for some concrete numbers.

I don't believe it is a fair comparison to compare COVID-19 to the flu, based on everything I know. I also know that flus have flu shots, which significantly reduce the number of people who get the flu, but I have made this request previously, and I am looking to get a sense from the Minister of how many people require hospitalization in...

I find that a truly terrifying statistic, and I am a little concerned that it took this long for me to hear that one third of our residents are in that category, because I really do think it shows the significant risk we are at. One of my other concerns is that there is a lot of different data out there showing how deadly COVID-19 is and what actually its effect on a population are. I'm not looking for specific modelling. I'm looking to get a sense of, given there is one third of our population at risk, and based on the number of people in the Northwest Territories, if COVID-19 is spreading...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With each day as our population ages, this Assembly's priority of enabling our seniors to age in place with dignity gains more importance.

Mr. Speaker, when dealing with our seniors, we must make our most compassionate selves take the lead. We must celebrate our elders for enriching our lives and building our futures. In our communities, unfortunately, we have created a system of healthcare that often asks many of our seniors make the impossible choice between aging in their community or being placed in a long-term care facility away from their homes. This tragedy is...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am fully supportive of this recommendation. I just wanted to speak to what I see are some very easy steps we could take. I don't understand why all of our housing units don't have free Wi-Fi in them. As far as I am concerned, we are providing people housing. Let's put Wi-Fi in them. That is something the NWT Housing Corporation, I think, can do tomorrow. Secondly, I know more and more jurisdictions are giving people cell phones. When you get income assistance, you get a cell phone through it. Victim Services has started to do some of that work, but it's the same kind...

No, thank you, Madam Chair, that's fine. As the order requires, I look forward to seeing all of those deadlines in an order provided to Standing Committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.