Debates of May 15, 2007 (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Members again for speaking to this motion and for, in many instances, sharing some very personal experiences and very personal knowledge of this particular matter. So I really think this is a good thing to send this message to the public and the people of the Northwest Territories and tell them how we, as leaders, feel about this subject of alcohol abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I've been looking at some of the young people even here serving as Pages in the House today. I hope the message gets out to our young people that you don't have to learn this lesson the hard way. You don’t need to take the long way around to find out, to get healthy. As young people that are empowered now and have access to good information, they can shortcut this whole long and devastating process that people have to go through and make healthy choices.

I really appreciate Mr. Yakeleya talking about people getting out on the land and getting in touch with their own spirit. There are so many distractions, I agree, in the communities. People are on their…What do you call those things? I don't even have one. Text messaging and they've got their iPod in their ear and they're just completely bombarded continually with some kind of stimulation. There's no quiet time; there's no time to reflect; there's no time to contemplate and I agree with that, people do need to get in touch with their spirit.

As a government, we do talk a lot about physical healing. Through our health care services, we talk a lot about emotional healing. But we do not, as a government, talk much about spiritual healing. We don't talk about that third part of a person that needs…and there are so many avenues out there where people do find that spiritual healing, and that can go some long ways toward dealing with this issue of alcohol abuse.

So to the issue of denormalizing alcohol abuse, make no mistake, it is not normal to forfeit possession of your judgement to alcohol. It is not normal to put yourself or your loved ones at risk for the sake of alcohol, and it is not normal to destroy your health or your peace of mind or your sense of well-being through the use of alcohol. It is normal to love yourself, to care for yourself, and our human instinct is for self-preservation and to care for ourselves and for those around us.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will just seek a recorded vote on this motion. Thank you.

Mrs. Groenewegen; Mr. Ramsay; Mr. Pokiak; Mr. Villeneuve; Mr. Lafferty; Mr. Miltenberger; Ms. Lee; Mr. Yakeleya; Mr. Braden; Mr. McLeod, Twin Lakes; Mr. Hawkins.

---Applause

All those opposed to the motion, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

Mr. Menicoche; Mr. Krutko; Mr. Roland; Mr. Handley; Mr. Dent; Mr. McLeod, Deh Cho; Mr. Bell.

The results of the vote: all those in favour, 11; opposed, zero; abstaining, seven. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Before I go to Mr. Ramsay, I'd just like to take this opportunity to recognize in the gallery Heather Riviere and her son Timmy.

---Applause

Honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to return to item 15 on the Order Paper.