Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I just wanted to make one last comment on that is that, you know, there are -- you know, in one instances, yes, it's fine for those that -- but we need to make sure that we have a system in place that it is fair and, you know, and that not everybody can just book a ticket and book a hotel room. And we hear that a lot, especially when we have, like, elders who are coming from communities and, you know, they get put into a hotel or, you know, they -- so we have to make sure that this process is -- there's an equitable process for it. We also want to make sure that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so the way that it shows in the budget is reduction because the Northern Wellness Agreement hadn't been signed, hadn't been done, finalized by the time the process to have the budget and so it -- as it looks like it's reduced, there is -- there is no changes in positions or anything like that because of the agreement came after, the new agreement.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is -- this is services that we -- so when you look at the actuals from 2023-2024 and the mains from last year, that is what was budgeted but that's not what we spent. I know that we had come back for -- we had additionally had to come back for a sup to pay for that. This is something that fluctuates. Our numbers are increasing for accessing facility-based treatment. We actually -- over the years, you know, there were calls for reducing barriers to access to treatment and so over the work, there's been a lot of work working with different ways to access...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, plan of care agreements are not necessarily agreements that remove children from their home. Plan of care agreements within the child and family services are where the family agrees that child and family services will support the family. Depending on their situation, you know, I can't speak to when it's deemed necessary to remove that child from the home. If they're -- you know, but the reason that a lot of the plan of cares have gone up is because more people are accessing support which, in my eyes, is what I've been trying to say, even as a Regular Member...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the questions from the Member. And I think it is -- it is one of the areas where it's difficult because I think on any given day, you know, if somebody is choosing to want to withdraw, manage, and detox from -- so normally, you'd be -- you know, you may be working with a physician, may be working within -- with counsellors, getting ready for, going to treatment, so a lot of times these may -- they may be, you know, scheduled. It's not necessarily that, you know, people will just show up to emerge and want detox. So it is being able to provide...

That is correct.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll turn it over to the ADM for that detail.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've been told that they'll be ready in April, and then we'll review them. And so once the department has taken a look at what those projections are, then I can let committee know and reach out to committee and be able to provide information on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, this is a very sensitive topic for many families in the Northwest Territories, myself personally, Mr. Speaker. However, when we have funds with -- that we are supporting many NGOs throughout the Northwest Territories and many different sectors, we have -- you know, we look at how we're getting the funding. And one of the things that we've had to do is look at how we're getting funding and so, currently, the department invests $3.85 million annually to fund the family violence shelters in the Northwest Territories. Through the department, they also fund...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I -- to get into the detail, the way that funding goes for -- so detox would be in hospital and those would be funded positions that would be added -- allocated to -- and I believe it is the -- like, Stanton, and I think in Beaufort Delta -- or Hay River, yes.