Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize that a lot of the truth and reconciliation in residential schools have become a very high-profile issue in the government. The department is putting together the action plan that we’re going to be rolling out in the next two years. In addition to that, we have about $6 million, a little over $6 million in the Community Counselling Program. We have one residential treatment facility that’s still operating and we also have about a million dollars or a little over targeted into the communities for aftercare and also for on-the-land programs, if that’s...

Mr. Speaker, as part of the action plan and as part of the Ministers’ forum, we want to look at all aspects of treatment and if family treatment is something that’s proposed by many of the communities, then it’s something that we will try to work into our action plan. Thank you.

Within that action plan and also a commitment from the government that we would look at more treatment in existing infrastructure, we will be asking in the action plan that a Minister’s forum be struck on well-respected people within the addictions and mental health field to travel to the communities and see first-hand what is required. We are going to be supporting that forum with a request through a supplementary appropriation of about $300,000 so that they can gather and hear firsthand from the communities what is needed. We believe, from our initial travels, that there is a requirement or...

That’s going to be up to this House on the amount of money that will be committed to it. We will be reviewing midwifery services in communities where a lot of births originate and which don’t actually occur in those communities. As an example, Hay River is one of the communities where there are many births originating but very few, if any, births at all that actually occur in Hay River. We’re looking at that type of a system to determine which midwifery program will come before the other.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no question from the department that midwifery would be an important part of the health system. The plan is to look at the Midwifery Program in the fiscal years of 2013-2014 to see where we could possibly put some midwives in position. We also have to do this in conjunction with a review of the physician services.

Although the births that are originating and most of the births are happening in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Alberta and a few in other provinces, we are looking at the communities where the mother is from, the originating mother is from. The ones with the highest numbers in those but the births don’t actually occur there where they have to be transported to another community. Hay River is probably number one on the list for the mother originates from, the birth is originating from but actually do not have the actual birth in that community. Then we have other communities after that.

Submission will be in the business plan for 2013-2014 for the Midwifery Program.

It’s a three-year plan, so we’re going to have to do something very quickly. Within this coming budget that’s approved, we’ve got some money put in there. The Standing Committee on Social Programs has asked us to add more money into prevention and treatment, so we’re looking at that. So we don’t have a long, long period to contemplate this. We’re going to start actioning the plan as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are prepared to look at those buildings. When we travelled into the communities, that was something that the community suggested, that perhaps without an in-depth analysis of any sort, the community suggested that maybe this building would be good for a youth treatment facility.

We are prepared to look at that, but first we want to do wellness plans. That is working with the communities, going to the communities, getting some information from the communities so that the communities will tell us what they think will work in the area of treatment of youth and adults, of course. Yes, I...

Right now the department, working with health and social services, is spending about $8 million targeted at treatment, mental health and addictions. But as people know in the House, a lot of that is for adult treatment; $2 million to Nats’ejee K’eh for adult treatment and $6 million to community counselling programs. That’s targeted to everyone, including youth. This is what we have. But the community wellness plans that we’re hoping to develop, that we will develop and that will complement our action plan, hopefully will identify ways that the community will see or advise us how they see...