Déclarations dans les débats

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was a little disappointed by the final answer of the Minister of Health and Social Services and I still don’t believe that they’re going to tackle the issue. I’m going to ask him in this particular manner regarding the challenges of the detox and addressing those types of issues. What is the Minister willing to do differently this term that has not been done any other term, to move this file forward? I can assure you, addiction problems have not decreased; rather, they have increased in the Northwest Territories.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

We are talking about investment in capital for further growth and we have to ask ourselves at the same time, is this good management of money. Ultimately it comes back to the question of good fiscal responsibility would look at this and ask these types of questions and allow the political types of decisions left up to the politicians. That said, it ties it all together. Then we make the decision on policy because we believe in them. Under fiscal and responsible point of view, what is to stop the Minister for asking the cost of these? If you want to invest in capital facilities, we need to...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

I appreciate the facilities or the locations the Minister has highlighted, but in fact those are areas that help people to carry the burden of their addictions, but yet it’s not a detox or a treatment centre by typical design.

Although the Minister doesn’t need to be educated on this particular issue, we know we had an addictions centre downtown that was used for many years, then was closing and then given away. Then they built one on the Detah road and that was closed and now is being used as a training centre. I mean, how many more addictions centres do we have to open and close and still not...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Okay. Then on one hand you’ll say that it’s better to have local programming even though it may be a lot of money, but we don’t know this for sure, of course. Yet, on the other hand, you’d say we’d like to see our money spent specifically to help people. I mean, quite often I’ve heard calls for on-the-land programs, but yet the first answer is we don’t have any money. What I’m asking for is what harm has it done to do an analysis to ask ourselves the cost of running – and I’m talking about the smaller type of facilities where we only have a couple of inmates potentially, be it now or certainly...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about concerns of addiction. Certainly, as we look at the beginning of this new Assembly, there are many people here that would like to see the addictions problems addressed. Although I know the Minister is new to the job, I would like to highlight a comment made in Wednesday’s Hansard on December 7th on page 5, in which the Premier says we need to find creative ways to address addictions, mental health, and promote wellness.

That now brings me to the question to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Is the new leader of that...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would ask the Department of Justice if there is any reason why they wouldn’t create a cost-benefit analysis to ask themselves where they’re getting good value for money when considering balancing the costs of carrying offenders and the costs of findings alternative options. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

I’m sure with…Yeah. Okay. What I’m getting at is housing one inmate, even if I take your fee of $266 per day as just a rough estimate, even if I round it up to $300 per day, we’re still talking about the cost of about $120,000 a year to run a facility for that specific person on the basis of what they bring in for cost. Now, I ask you what is the cost to run that facility when we have to staff it. In other words, are the costs coming in justifying the expense to keep the doors open? I wonder, if we’re keeping the facility open for one person, would it not make economic sense to transfer this...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would maybe appreciate if I could probably take a second stab at it, rather than interpretation. I’d like to know the cost Nunavut would pay us to house one inmate. If they want to provide that, I’d like to start with that particular fee.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

Thank you, Madam Chair. One particular issue is the investment in the Fort Smith program. I don’t say this in the context of I don’t think the program shouldn’t be expanded or better accommodated. I’m just wondering about the timing of this particular investment with regard to, obviously, the recent passage of Bill C-10. Shouldn’t the department be looking more towards a longer strategy, rather than trying to fix things for the short term? It would make sense, in my view, that the future programming, which is a significant unknown right now, should be addressed first.

I guess the question to...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 1st Session (day 5)

I’d like the Minister to provide the information, if he would, on how many people have gone to the southern placement of detox centres and how many people have actually applied and been refused to attend. What alternative methods have they been given as a particular recommendation? I would affirm or assert, in this particular case, that more people have been denied appropriate treatment than have received the focus they should have.