Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, my statement was on addictions and mental health and the impacts of accessibility to drugs and alcohol to the residents of Tuktoyaktuk after the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is: can the Minister provide a status update of the development of the addictions recovery action plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some initial activities to develop the mental health and addictions recovery action plan are under way. We're compiling key findings. We're looking forward to seeing the report from committee on suggestions of things that we need to do better. We're pulling together best practices from around other jurisdictions to help inform further discussion. We've also put together, or we're in the process of putting together, an interdepartmental working group of social envelope departments as well as the NWT Health and Social Services Authority in the Tlicho Community Services Agency. It's our expectation or intention to engage with members of the public and NGO partners as well as Indigenous governments by inviting them to provide feedback on the initial document that will be produced. We're also in the process right now of developing an engagement plan to help us move through this entire process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the update. Mr. Speaker, my second question to the Minister is: what kind of actions will the plan propose to address unique needs of small communities, especially the ones like Tuktoyaktuk are facing and intense rapid change to the community?
I don't want to presuppose on the conclusions that will come out of the work that's being done. I do know that the standing committee will be making a number of recommendations. Many of those are focused on the information that they heard during the tour. We hope to incorporate those types of things, but until the work is done I would hate to presuppose exactly what this document is going to look like. It's a little early days, but I am committed to working with the Member, Members from small communities, Members from the standing committees, and the public and other stakeholders.
It's good to see that the Minister is open to working with Regular Members on important issues like this. Mr. Speaker, my third question is: how will Health and Social Services addictions treatment and prevention programming include a public awareness campaign as being part of the government's approach to the legalization of cannabis?
When it comes to cannabis, our goal is to protect residents, especially children and youth, from second-hand cannabis smoke exposure. Also, in some ways more important, we want to make sure that residents have the facts on the risks of cannabis and its use on the developing brain. This is an area that I think we need to put some additional attention on to create awareness of so that young people and pregnant and nursing women understand the risks and impacts of cannabis on that developing brain.
Officials within the department have begun meeting to design a public education awareness campaign and we have actually submitted an application to Health Canada requesting funding to support the efforts that we're undertaking in this particular area. Officials from the department are working not just in the department of Health and Social Services but Education, Culture and Employment and other departments to develop some public education and awareness to help residents become aware of the impacts and why they should avoid utilizing or using cannabis, whether it's a smoked form or an ingested form.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. During the last constituency tour, residents of small communities were somewhat concerned and wondering how the government is going to roll out its action plan and as well as the looking at the legislation for cannabis.
Mr. Speaker, my final question: the Minister mentioned he would work with local Indigenous governments and Regular Members on addictions and wellness. I just wonder, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could give a few details on how the government will work with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation on addictions and wellness programs in Nunakput. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I feel strongly that the IRC has been a very proactive group when it comes to family support and other initiatives. They were a part of the groups that we actually engaged with in the development of the Mental Health and Addictions Strategic Framework, which is the foundation of the next documents moving forward including the recovery plan that we talked about previously.
Mr. Speaker, all levels of government have a role to play in supporting mental wellness. One of the key directions outlined in this strategic framework is to take a whole government approach. This includes Indigenous governments like the IRC, and we're committed to working with them as we move forward to explore new and creative ways of doing things. The work of all levels of government is important to making this a reality, and we're committed to working with them and all of our partners moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
