Tom Beaulieu

Since our tour, other than having a discussion with the department on looking at the expansion of that on-the-land treatment program, I know that in the community of Tulita when I mentioned that immediately in the public meeting, there was an indication that that wasn’t enough, that they would just get started and then the program would be over. I had said – I threw out a number in the meeting – would doubling it be good, and someone said no, triple the budget and we can do something to help our people heal on the land.

At this time the Department of Health and Social Services is going out to the communities. We recognize that this is an issue. We recognize that alcohol is an issue. We recognize that in small communities across the North and the part of Yellowknife that sometimes 90 percent of the small community issues pertaining to health are related to addictions. We are prepared to work with the communities. We are asking the communities what do they feel the solutions are. The communities are coming back and saying we need treatment on the land. We need to get our people out on the land, and that’s what...

Use, lack of use. Right now there’s a treatment centre in Hay River and it’s 49 percent occupied. The use is 49 percent. For some reason or another it’s not being used. Although the department has gone out and talked to the people, the people are saying what we need is on-the-land treatment, on-the-land addictions and mental health treatment. The department is trying to move in that direction. That is what is preventing us from building another treatment facility in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

It would be difficult for me to commit on the work of doctors. However, I will promise the Member that we will have a full discussion to ask the doctors why there is surgery on a different week than when the tests are done, so that the tests are done in the same week. We have no problem whatsoever to having that full discussion with the doctors and get back to the Member with those results.

As I indicated, the decision is made by the doctor that’s doing the surgery. If we could go back to discuss the change here, I think we would be prepared to do that as a department, to discuss with the doctor why he makes those decisions on how he has the persons tested up here and then the individual doesn’t actually get the operation until Monday. We can, as a department, go to the doctors and find out why that occurs and get back to the Member.

The Department of Health and Social Services is currently working with the Department of Human Resources on a new Physician Recruitment Strategy. The strategy is to bring the doctors into the community. That is the number one priority. We are still using locums from the South. A plan B could be to bring the doctors from Yellowknife and then the doctors from here would work in the Beaufort-Delta and have more continuity, but we’re still trying to work on the strategy to bring doctors into Inuvik and the other regional centres that don’t have doctors.

Our first priority is to have doctors in the regions for easy access for the patients. We need doctors to be in the regions, and Inuvik is one of the regions and has nine positions. Of the nine positions, only 0.8 positions are filled in Inuvik. There have been attempts, there have been websites put out in an attempt to recruit, but as I said, in the Beaufort-Delta we are prepared to work with the community of Inuvik, whether it be the municipality or Beaufort-Delta leadership in order to attract doctors to Inuvik as a first priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I toured Sahtu with the Member. He is very right; there are many, many people in the community who were unhappy with the decision to have changes to how much alcohol can be purchased at a liquor store in the communities that we attended. The communities said they were going to feel the repercussions and they wanted to know how they could get more money for on-the-land treatment programs. I indicated to them that at this point we have, through the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority, $25,000 earmarked for each community to start an on-the-land treatment program...

That’s correct; detoxification and treatment are two different things. Detoxification sometimes occurs in the hospital for several days in order to prepare someone for treatment. Detoxification is sometimes used when somebody is coming into the hospital for detoxification, or it’s the withdrawal management system that is run by the Salvation Army here in Yellowknife. There are two separate issues. Are there enough facilities in the Northwest Territories to provide detox services to everyone? Probably not, but that’s what we have at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a very serious issue across the North, especially in the small communities. They need to address the addiction issues. Right now the Department of Health and Social Services has out-of-territory placements where when they cannot be treated in the one treatment facility that does exist in the Northwest Territories, on which the department spends about $2 million. The department spends $6 million annually in supporting all of the various health and social services authorities targeted to addiction treatment and mental health. The department also spends, specific...