Steve Norn

Marsi cho, Madam Speaker. Today, I'm going to talk about dental services in the smaller communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled much of our government's programs and services. Even the simple services like renewing your driver's licence, for example, or getting a dental cleaning has become a much more difficult task to complete compared to pre-COVID times.

Just yesterday, Madam Speaker, there was a CBC article published which described an increasingly dire situation regarding dental services for small communities in the NWT. In fact, two of the four communities that were mentioned in...

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. I've been thinking about this for a long time and consulting with the leaders of my riding. The general consensus is: there is not a lot of support for this. Right off the hop, I was reluctant, and I was very skeptical. If you try to make the best decision possible, you look at all the stats. You try to look at all the benefits. I just can't, the rationale behind this, I firmly believe this is a mistake. There is a better way through than allocating what we are allocating. I think that throughout, so far in this sitting, we've mentioned various issues that we are having...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to consider the following documents: Committee Report 4-19(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2018-2019 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report; Committee Report 5-19(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2018-2019 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; and then Bill 15, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2020. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

In my notes here, I have "Madam Speaker" underlined quite clearly so I don't make that mistake. Thank you to the Minister for that response. Like I said, we have got to get ahead of this. I agree with surpayments. I think his department, as well, needs to look at ways to make sure that the money gets to where it's needed because there are a lot of these payments that are meant for food, rent, and make sure we get those out to those areas and not get out to the bootleggers and out to these other drug dealers. That is what we want to see. My second question, Madam Speaker, is: can the Minister...

Marsi cho, Madam Speaker. I would like to recognize my CA, Tommy Lafferty. He is here with us, passing through from Lutselk'e. He is originally from Behchoko. I want to say thank you. Marsi.

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. I move that the Chair rise and report progress.

Thank you again for that response. It's good to hear there are some initiatives in place. There are so many of our people with addictions who are susceptible, and we still have to keep fighting for them. My other question is: can the Minister explain whether or not there have been any changes regarding antidrug procedures, protocols, or initiatives within the NWT since the COVID-19 pandemic has begun?

Marsi cho, Madam Speaker. Just going back to my Member's statement on illicit drugs, I wanted to specifically target those hard drugs, such as crack cocaine, cocaine, and fentanyl. I actually looked up some weight measurements for what a pinch of salt is. When you pick a pinch of salt and you are cooking with it, there are about 60 milligrams there. That is how heavy that is. To put things in perspective, I looked up the lethal dose for fentanyl, and that is 2 to 3 milligrams. That is not very much. These are the kinds of drugs that are killing our people. There is an opioid crisis going on in...

Marsi cho, Madam Speaker. Today, I want to talk about the adverse impact and influence which illicit drug trade is still having within our communities amid the ongoing global pandemic. Madam Speaker, another common theme that I've noticed in my constituency is the increase of crime, violent crime, and hard drug use within our communities. During the early stages of the pandemic, the federal government distributed CERB funding. I believe this was a mistake as many of our residents used these new funds to feed their addictions to new levels. All we've seen is many of our bootleggers, drug...

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the NWT Housing Corporation at this time. Marsi cho, Madam Chair.