Tom Beaulieu

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to speak on a very important issue in Tu Nedhe. When I speak to addictions counsellors and local health officials, they advise me that the number one cause of health and social problems in small communities is excessive consumption of alcohol.

The Department of Health and Social Services must make the shift from treating people for the causes of heavy drinking to preventing them from drinking. Some of the people are drinking alcohol to a point where it’s affecting their health, their family and their employment, and in some cases worse than that: drinking...

To start with, can the Minister have her department facilitate, coordinate some community meetings with the end means of developing some sort of community strategy on addictions and using some of the money she’s indicated already to begin the process of developing? I think that the community will build some momentum towards addressing addiction issues.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of addictions in the small communities. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, does the Department of Health and Social Services have a strategy to address the issue of heavy alcohol consumption in the small communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about future cost of the devolution agreement for the GNWT. I have questions for the Premier. Why did this government agree to an AIP that does not place full responsibility on the federal government for inflation and the cost of running the regulatory system? Thank you.

In Tu Nedhe alone, there are 25 waste sites. That’s not counting Pine Point and, of course, all the diamond mines are currently in Tu Nedhe and, therefore, these will require future remediation for sure.

There’s also the issue of cleaning up the more recent industrial sites regulated under the legislation implemented since 1984. The public cleanup required on these, the GNWT will have to pay for 100 percent.

I’ll be asking the Premier questions on this at the appropriate time.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure the people of Tu Nedhe that the Premier, in signing the devolution agreement-in-principle with the federal government, has thoroughly gone through some very important details. That is what the Dene leadership in Tu Nedhe want to know.

I’m sure that the Premier was being honest earlier in his term when he said that the work on the devolution agreement was on the backburner. Leaders in my constituency believed him and so did I. However, now the Dene leaders feel that the Premier has been working on the...

Does that mean that Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority will get the money for Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e?

I’m assuming that it would be a matter of the prevention and promotion services. In here it’s indicated that programs assist with emotional and social problems such as suicide, homelessness, and dealing with residential school issues. The majority of those, homelessness and residential school issues, are of course something that I recognize the department has to pay some attention to. I know that it is difficult to address the homelessness issue because it’s difficult to find absolute homeless people in the small communities because relatives take them in and they end up becoming relative...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dene people see this as a loophole by the federal government. It does not seem fair when the federal government designed and implemented a regulatory system, will take 50 percent of the royalties on these developments but won’t pay for the cleanups. This is a loophole. Why is there no definite plan in place to place full responsibility for the remediation that’s needed on the federal government? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, what is the Government of the Northwest Territories doing to ensure that the waste sites that are listed or that are contemplated in such devolution agreement in the future are cleaned up in a timely fashion? What is the time frame for this? Is this going to go on forever or is there going to be a time frame for a clean-up of these waste sites? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.