Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update Members on home ownership clients that have direct mortgages with the NWT Housing Corporation and steps we are taking to work in partnership with these clients to ensure they are able to provide their families with affordable, adequate and suitable housing, while meeting their responsibilities as homeowners.
There are about 400 homeowners who have their mortgages directly with the NWT Housing Corporation. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, many of them have struggled to reduce their loan balances and a significant amount of arrears have accumulated. The accumulation of these arrears are shared between the NWT Housing Corporation and the homeowner, and many factors such as homeowners not making timely and regular payments, the design of the programs locking in an interest rate for the life of the mortgage, and the NWT Housing Corporation being slow to take action to work with homeowners who had fallen behind in their payments have led to this situation.
I am pleased to announce today that NWT Housing Corporation will be contacting each of these clients over the coming weeks to inform them of a revised approach to their mortgage balance. The new approach is more consistent with current home ownership supports, gives these clients an opportunity for a fresh start and will hopefully lead to them to work in partnership with the NWT Housing Corporation to be successful homeowners.
The revised approach will significantly reduce their mortgage balance in most cases and provide a
fresh start in terms of arrears. The clients will be offered repayment options that will make home ownership affordable and provide predictable payments which will allow them to better plan for their family’s needs.
For example, under the old mortgage program, where clients were charged as much as 12 percent interest on an annual basis, we have a client who borrowed $145,000 in 1996 who now owes $223,000, despite having paid nearly $50,000 towards their mortgage over the years. Under the new approach, which takes into account our current subsidy approach and makes adjustments for direct payments and modest interest rates, this family will owe $35,000. Depending on how fast they want to pay off the $35,000, mortgage payments will be between $240 and $430 a month.
Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear that this is not about forgiving past debt. This is about giving residents a fresh start. The new approach uses our current approach to home ownership and applies it to these existing mortgage clients. This results in the reduced mortgage balances but, most importantly, this step represents considerable effort on behalf of the NWT Housing Corporation to improve the circumstances for these clients. Those clients that have made serious efforts to keep up with their mortgages will see lower outstanding mortgage amounts than those clients who have not kept up with their mortgages. We estimate that there will be 20 clients that will no longer have a mortgage with the NWTHC because they have kept up with their obligations.
We believe if the clients take advantage of this opportunity and live up to their responsibilities, this will help reduce core housing need. It will improve housing affordability and encourage homeowners to make investments in repairs and upkeep of their homes.
As I’ve said in this House many times, we also need to strengthen our overall collection efforts. While the new approach will give clients the opportunity to get back in good standing, we cannot and will not allow our clients to again accumulate large amounts of arrears. We will act before clients get into circumstances where they would have difficulty getting their head back above water. We are always willing to work with clients who want to get themselves out of any difficulties, but we will also take steps for those who don’t want to work with us. That will include actions like garnishees of wages, use of collection agencies, reporting of bad debts to credit bureaus, and foreclosures.
Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation’s strategic plan identified improving home ownership supports as a strategic priority. Today’s action is a step in that direction and I look forward to continuing to work with Members and the Standing Committee on Social Programs as we continue to advance the priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to update Members on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project.
This important project is included in our 17th Assembly Caucus priorities, the federal engagement strategy, and in every strategic planning document prepared by the department since it was formed in 1989. It has remained a priority through past governments, with a supporting motion passed in the last Assembly. This is the first step in the development of the all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk. We plan to take that first step during the life of the 17th Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, the construction project will build on the strength of Northerners by increasing employment opportunities where they are needed most and leading to economic diversification in the short, medium and long-term.
Residents will receive the benefit of less expensive access to regional services, such as health care, education and recreational facilities.
Mr. Speaker, the highway will be the first all-weather road to the Arctic Ocean, producing substantial benefits at the national, regional and local levels. It will promote tourism and hospitality industries, making Tuktoyaktuk the first Canadian community on the Arctic coast accessible by an all-weather road.
Since my last update, the Environmental Impact Review Board held public hearings in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Municipal and regional leaders, businesspeople, residents and elders used the public hearings as an opportunity to clearly express regional and public approval. Local contractors used their heavy equipment in a display of support for the project and to demonstrate its importance to the regional economy. There is strong anticipation for the project among Beaufort-Delta residents.
Mr. Speaker, the environmental review has been an all-encompassing process resulting in 316 items submitted to the Environmental Impact Review Board’s public registry to date. The documents represent two years of work and include 86 substantial technical reports covering everything from hydrology to fish and wildlife habitat, terrain analysis, permafrost assessments, geotechnical investigations, light detection and ranging surveys, aerial photography and mapping.
Mr. Speaker, since the outset of this project, we have cultivated inclusive partnerships with communities and residents and have fully considered their input in project planning. We have received valuable comments on the importance of Husky Lakes, alignment options and the management of access to the land.
Discussions with the federal government about the federal funding commitment are underway. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has acknowledged that this project is of national significance and will improve Canada’s sovereignty and security position. Discussions are also underway with the federal government and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to secure land tenure.
Mr. Speaker, we are near the conclusion of the environmental review. We have just submitted the last document onto the public registry, the developer’s final response to submissions. The Inuvialuit Environmental Impact Review Board will now deliberate and consider all the material presented as they develop their final report and recommendations to the federal government.
Northerners are anxious to receive the review panel’s decision when it releases its report early in January 2013. While the Environmental Review Board drafts their final report, the department will be working diligently to prepare the remaining materials necessary to have a comprehensive debate and discussion on the project in this House. We will have details on the federal funding commitment, updated cost estimates and design, as well as details on land tenure and royalty costs. In addition, we continue to gather field and technical information, consultation with co-management groups is ongoing, and key draft management plans are being prepared to support the anticipated regulatory phase. If the Environmental Review Board schedule remains on track, debate on formal project approvals could occur during the February/March sitting of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the beginning of our term, the 17th Assembly set a goal of an efficient and effective government.
This was clear direction and we followed it. In June I tabled the Department of Justice 10-Year Strategic Plan and I committed to bring forward a five-year implementation strategy during this session. Later today I will table that document.
While the strategic plan outlines the department’s vision, goals and priorities, the
five-year implementation strategy is the roadmap for how we are going to get there.
This plan identifies the work to be done over the next five years to move the department in the direction of its goals. To reach these goals, priority work has been set. These include supporting initiatives to prevent crime and enhancing the role of our communities and their access to justice services. We will ensure there are services for victims, and we will provide integrated programs and services for offenders. Finally, priorities have been set to broaden options for families and provide a range of services for youth.
Ultimately, this will help us reduce crime, improve access to justice, and build and maintain a strong foundation of financial, human and technology resources to support core programs and services.
This strategy will help our partners and our communities understand what we are doing and how our programs and services will work with theirs. The work we do is not done in isolation.
Our plan is flexible. As circumstances change, we will adjust. We’ll evaluate our programs to make sure they’re working, and we’ll make the changes needed to keep moving towards our vision of safe and vibrant communities.
I have committed to providing updates on our progress. This detailed strategy is the first step. Our business plans will follow this strategy, and we will keep coming back to committee to talk about how we can continue to build on the strengths of Northerners.
We now have the long-term strategic plan, the five-year implementation strategy and, each year, new business plans. I look forward to your input as we move forward working together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is dedicated to providing relevant and necessary programming to suit the needs of our adult learners.
In May 2011, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the GNWT and the mines, the departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Industry, Tourism and Investment met with our three operating mines in the North: BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto and De Beers Canada. They identified a need for financial literacy training for their staff and we responded. ECE set to work on identifying modules for the program, with research on best practices and existing programs, information from the Task Force on Financial Literacy, and supported by Aurora College and the NWT Literacy Council.
This idea has been developed into a curricula package, including recognized learning outcomes, teaching techniques and 11 modules related to the needs of northern workers. The three mines identified household budgeting, banking, credit, financial planning tools, managing debt and other practical topics as their employees’ needs. This new course will provide learners with the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their personal finances.
Financial literacy will be one of the mandatory courses delivered through our territorial Adult Literacy and Basic Education program. It is delivered mainly by Aurora College in community learning centres across the territory and by other stakeholders, such as the Tree of Peace and Native Women’s Association. The modules in the financial literacy course accommodate many levels of learners, with a wide variety of resources at various literacy levels. They will be delivered for the first time in February 2013.
The course is also designed so that it may be delivered by employers. Many employers offer workplace literacy opportunities for their employees and this package will be made available to anyone who would like to use this resource.
Mr. Speaker, November is Financial Literacy Month, and programs like this are important to the well-being of residents and our economy. Financial education will benefit Northerners of all ages and income levels. For young adults just beginning their working lives, it can provide basic tools for budgeting and saving so that expenses and debt can be kept under control. Financial education can help families acquire the discipline to save for a home of their own or for their children’s education. It can help older workers ensure that they have enough savings for a comfortable retirement by providing them with the information and skills to make wise investment choices. Financial education can help people to avoid the high cost charged by institutions like cheque-cashing services.
This course will provide our residents with the skills they require to lead fulfilled lives and contribute to a strong and prosperous future in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, the film and media arts industry makes a positive economic and cultural impact on our territory. It provides employment and learning opportunities for our residents, provides a venue for our talented filmmakers to showcase their work, and draws outside production companies to the Northwest Territories to create memorable films that use our rugged landscape as a backdrop. Today I am pleased to share with you the results of the progress report on the film and media arts industry that I am tabling later in the House today.
The departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment and Education, Culture and Employment have been working together over the past two years to explore the best ways to support film in complementary ways: Industry, Tourism and Investment through the business and economic side, and Education, Culture and Employment through the training, cultural and creative development side.
The process started over two years ago when members from the NWT film industry raised concerns about the need for increased support.
Realizing the need to have a closer look at the film industry, ITI and ECE undertook a review. This involved close consultation with the NWT film and media arts industry. At a workshop last year, the Government of the Northwest Territories and stakeholders came together to discuss options and develop recommendations for support.
We all agreed that improved collaboration was needed between ITI and ECE. The GNWT also committed to establish the NWT Film Commission’s mandate and staffing configuration, to establish dedicated funding support for the industry, to invest in the formation of an industry association, and to invest in website development.
Today I am pleased to announce that the Government of the Northwest Territories has made progress on each of these commitments, and the industry is becoming even healthier.
The two departments regularly collaborate on film issues. We restructured the NWT Film Commission and added a full-time dedicated associate film commissioner.
Dedicated funding of $100,000 per year is now available through ITI’s Support to Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Policy, to provide additional support to the NWT film industry.
Also, with the full support of the GNWT, the NWT Professional Media Association was formed. This gave the film industry and our government a more formal way to discuss ways to provide the support that is needed.
Last but not least, we have made significant progress on a brand new NWT Film Commission website. This sleek new website, nwtfilm.com, is a resource to the local film and media arts industry and companies who want to film in the NWT. It also has an NWT film suppliers guide to promote the local industry.
Progress has been made on more than just what is identified in this report. ITI, through the NWT Film Commission, as well as ECE, recently provided support and took part in a panel at the first-ever NWT Filmmaker and Producer Forum in September. This kind of two-way dialogue is an essential part of working together with the industry.
Mr. Speaker, we realize there is more work to do and this report is only one way we will show our support for the film and media arts industry. We will continue to work closely with the industry, and I am confident we will see even more amazing work from our local filmmakers and film community and that interest in filming in the NWT will continue to grow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our theme today is addiction. Two and a half minutes cannot do this topic any justice because it is a very, very complex topic, but I am hoping that with all the different perspectives of my colleagues here today, we can send a message.
This is a topic I get very frustrated talking about because it doesn’t seem we have a plan, the tools, or maybe even the will to deal with it. I wish we could fully quantify and articulate the impacts substance abuse has on our residents, how many lives cut short. How the quality of life is diminished through the loss, suffering, pain and harm of substance abuse. We see all the signs: our jails are filled with inmates who acted under the influence of substances, our classrooms with children struggling because of dysfunctional homes, our students with learning impairments because of fetal alcohol effects, our hospitals with people with conditions and diseases resulting from a life of not caring about their own well-being, the sheer human toll of lives not lived to their potential.
As a government we state that the safety and well-being of our residents is a high priority, but when you see how little impact our investments, our efforts, our programs and services have had over the years in addressing our well-documented statistics on addictions and substance abuse, there has to be something wrong with what we are doing.
The abuse of drugs and alcohol in our territory is robbing and killing our people. Why can’t we see that and call it for what it is? We worry about public safety, workplace safety, wear a seatbelt, wear a helmet, don’t text and drive, harm reduction; the list goes on and on. We can’t say that we’re not involved in the safety and well-being of our people, but when it comes to drugs and alcohol, we defend the right of people to make their own choices. They drink when they’re pregnant, no matter the lifetime of harm they’re inflicting on another human being.
The recent incident of food safety where XL Foods Products went out and 12 people in Canada got sick from E. coli and the story headlined the news for weeks and millions of kilograms of meat was put into landfills, and yet alcohol and drug abuse is making our people sick and killing them and it’s not the social norm but the way of life for countless people in our territories. This insidious problem of abuse has infiltrated every aspect of our lives and we have become complacent about co-existing with this enemy. We have adjusted our tolerance out of conditioning to thinking that this is normal. This is not normal. I have never thought it was normal.
This destruction that is passing from generation to generation is depriving our people of freedom and happiness, and consuming an inordinate amount of our resources. Why can’t we see it for what it is doing?
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I get very passionate about this topic. I apologize.
Why can’t we see it for what it is and what it is doing? If we knew there was a road washed out and people went speeding towards an open pit that would result in injury and death for sure, would we not do everything in our power to warn and prevent them from speeding over the edge? Would we not divert the road, put up barricades, warning signs, physically go out and try to do everything we could to stop them? We wouldn’t stand by and say, well, it’s just their choice to take that road.
We need to create a new norm, and we need to do it with the new generations of young people coming up. It’s not normal to live in a haze and struggle a lifetime with addictions and we should be shouting it, as leaders, from the rooftops.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the land addictions and mental health treatment, this is the only direction we have heard from the Minister of Health and Social Services when asked several times about the future direction of addictions treatment in the North. I’m sorry, but this is not enough. For this, I am going to be bringing today my version of a five-step program and hoping that the Minister and the department are paying attention.
For starters, we all have had enough. Enough talk, enough debates, enough studies and enough strategies. Enough already. You are just wasting valuable resources, time and energy of dusting off old notes and replacing them with new ones. Addiction is addiction. It has not changed. It has not modernized. The only thing that has happened over the years is now it is worse than ever.
Secondly, we need a detox or withdrawal facility now, preferably in a location that has experienced the highest growth of rampant addictions of all types, who takes in those outcasts from all the smaller communities, and who has the highest percentage of dysfunctional residents in the territory. I am sure that Yellowknife might just fit that perfect candidate for a facility, but to make this one succeed this time, and not repeat the failure of the Somba K’e Healing Centre since 2003, we must have the right medical staff, expertise and funding.
Thirdly, let’s evaluate the 30-day dry-out period requirement for Nats'ejee K'eh Residential Treatment Centre in Hay River as this medical dry day requirement in other jurisdictions has been reduced greatly and has shown success. Maybe this way we can actually get the facility to 100 percent occupancy and not the 50 percent showing that we have been seeing today.
Fourth, we need to establish the proper halfway house programs in all 33 communities so that healing and reintegration happens with the support of family. While we are in these communities, we should create mobile centres of addictions counsellors to connect with all these communities to identify new clients willing to take that first step forward.
Finally, once this primary care detox and addictions program is up and running, we should identify the establishment of two other major addiction treatment facilities to be placed in both Inuvik and Norman Wells so as to complete the proper coverage of geographic addiction under the proper standardization model.
In closing, with over 89 percent of dysfunctional addicts walking the downtown streets of Yellowknife from outside the capital, we don’t need an addiction centre here in Yellowknife. We need a detox centre. Simply put, why? It is because we need the proper expertise to monitor the medically controlled drying out period…
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Why, again? Simply put, we need the proper expertise to monitor the medically controlled drying out period, which is the most dangerous time in the healing process, and should there be a medical emergency, your medevac costs are that much lower. That’s it, Mr. Speaker. A five-point plan. It’s as simple as that.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members know, in June the Minister of Health and Social Services tabled the department’s Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. With the mention of enhancing addictions treatment programs an element in the priorities of the 17th Assembly, it’s good to have the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan lining up with those priorities. But today I must follow up on the subject of the questions I asked the Minister last week about the Minister’s Forum on Addictions.
Don’t get me wrong; I am not one to suggest that consultation is a bad thing. It is a good thing. But there can be too much of a good thing. That’s where we are now with this forum: doing consultation on top of all of our previous consultations on addictions. I like the forum concept, but for the long haul not for the short term. I like it as a sounding board for the department and the Minister, used to gauge how well mental health programs are working. Consultation is not needed right now.
I’ve read the department’s action plan. It lays out where we need to go, what we need to do, and it fully identifies the gaps that currently exist in our mental health and addictions programs and services. We should be tackling those gaps right now, revamping and reorganizing our current programs to address those gaps, one at a time if we have to, but we have to take action.
The Minister’s forum will only study again, study some more, study a problem we are too familiar with. If we as Members of this Assembly and if the Minister of Health and Social Services is serious about solving the mental health and addictions problems in our territory, serious about getting our people well, we would devote funding right now to Health and Social Services to get the job done. There must be a commitment to allocate those dollars, not only from the Department of Health and Social Services but from all of Cabinet.
We must have a social safety net for our residents to land in when they fall off the tightrope of life. We don’t have that safety net, those supports right now. Just look at the gaps in services outlined in the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. If we, as a government, are ever to help our people move forward, move up, move on, if we’re ever to see them start to succeed, to become contributing, effective members of our NWT society, we have to stop studying the addictions problem and start taking action.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Alcohol is the intoxicating chemical in beer, wine and spirits. It is a little harder to find drugs, but one definition is a narcotic, hallucinogen or stimulant, especially one causing addiction. Of course, besides their misuse as intoxicants, alcohol and drugs have many other uses in our society including medicines and painkillers.
The sale of alcohol alone brings very good money to this government. In 2011 liquor sales topped $45 million. Of that, more than $28 million was profit. Mr. Speaker, $45 million in sales is more than $1,000 per man, woman and child in this territory.
Of course, it is illegal to sell alcohol to young people, but we know that many of them drink anyway. It is safe to say that the fuel for many of the worst problems we have in our territory comes from our government’s liquor sales.
We know that more than 85 percent of crime is alcohol or drug-related. Those cases choke our courts and fill our jails. Alcohol is a factor in more than half of our accidental deaths. More than 35 percent of our population reports drinking to excess at least once a month, a rate that is more than double Canada.
It is impossible to put a dollar value on the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on the health of our people, let alone the costs to our health system. However, roughly 15 percent of hospitalizations are due to mental health and addictions.
Alcohol use and abuse is also a complicated factor in many other conditions such as diabetes. We have seen that it is not easy to quit drinking or break free from addictive drugs, but we have also seen it can be done with determination and the right kind of help. I am concerned that it is very difficult to get the help in most of our communities. There is almost no detox available. They are waiting to get into treatment. Some treatment is only available down south. There is not enough support for those who complete treatment and return home.
The new Mental Health and Addictions Strategy is a step in the right direction, but I wonder if it will be funded properly. Maybe we should use some of the liquor revenue. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about addictions today and the lack of government responses. I have never seen a better defense of the status quo by finding more excuses why not to act. Government after government after government continues to find new ways to defend doing nothing. There has been nothing but a solid call from this side of the House, including the Caucus at large, when we have asked for a treatment centre here in the Northwest Territories.
The Yellowknifer wrote an editorial the other day which I completely disagree with. They were taking a shot at the idea about a treatment centre in the North, but they did a little poke at me directly saying, well, not here in Yellowknife. My point about that discussion the other week was the fact that it is so important that we should not obstruct the solution by saying it has to be here. Yes, as a Yellowknife MLA, of course I think a treatment centre needs to be in Yellowknife. I also think one needs to be in Inuvik. I also think Norman Wells deserves treatment opportunities, Fort Smith and other places. It is all about what makes sense. If you are committed to the cause, the important thing should be asked: Why are we doing it and why are we not doing it? Why are we not doing this? The people ask this particular question repeatedly. Why is there not a treatment centre in the Northwest Territories?
This is one of the problems with electing a consensus-style government. If we were a regular-style government, they would come in and say elect us because we will do a treatment centre. If they didn’t, they would throw their butts out the next term.
The people of the Northwest Territories have very little accountability for the calls of the treatment centre because they can’t pinpoint and say this Health Minister is not doing it, this Cabinet Minister is not doing it, this Finance Minister isn’t committing money to this particular initiative. The important factor here is people are calling for action and accountability. This side of the House respects that fact and we want accountability done on this particular project. We have not seen it.
I call for action of this government to finally hear the relentless calls of this Assembly, the relentless calls of the people of the Northwest Territories and finally do something for addictions. Time for excuses has come to an end. I cannot say it enough, but I will say it again, time for excuses has come to an end. The people of the Northwest Territories, the people on this side of the House, the people we care about out there need a response and darn well deserve one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You can see how passionate we are when it comes to mental health and addictions and programming dollars that we need. We have good and moderate programming dollars for communities who wish to initiate health, wellness and addiction workshops. These are well used in my constituency as I travel. However, there is a weakness and gap with the programs available.
The Health Promotion Fund of around $10,000 and the Community Wellness Fund, about $5,000 to each community, does not take into account the high cost of travel and accommodations. As a result, remote communities like Trout Lake and Wrigley will use up to 50 percent of eligible funding for travel, thereby reducing the quantity and quality of the program that can be offered to their residents.
In the Health and Social Services report called A Shared Path Towards Wellness, 2012-2015 Action Plan, there are other gaps identified that must be addressed as this will immensely help our small communities. The need for more community follow-up, more programs for children and youth and mental health and addictions. With the limited funding, my communities, and indeed all of our communities in the North, do experience problems getting good programs and workshops into their communities.
Later on today Mr. Yakeleya will introduce a motion on mental health and addictions, calling for more financial investment into taking care of people. I certainly support it as we can fund adequately our remote communities that they have proper and professional programs and workshops to help their communities. A lot of these programming dollars are one-time funding and it’s got to be more than that, it has got to be continuous. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Minister of Health and Social Services made a Minister’s statement on a forum on addictions that happened last Friday here in Yellowknife. In fact, he was quoted on CBC that he said that people say that government doesn’t listen to them. Well, on this side of the House we often get that same type of feeling that government doesn’t listen to what we have to offer.
I believe this is about the third or fourth time we’ve done a theme day here on mental health and addictions. If not one, it was the other. The Minister’s statement last week has sparked a lot of discussions, a lot of questions, and in fact when I did bring it into the House, we had a lot of questions on this side getting verification on a few different things.
I went home this weekend, and in the Yellowknife Airport, in the city here, and in the community of Inuvik a lot of people are asking why was the Minister making a statement, making the perception that this government is doing something good for the people when it’s not. I heard that from the community, I heard it from the residents, I heard it from the service providers. People who actually work in this field ask us why does the government says we’re doing good things like the detox centre, why are we sending people down south and not working with them here in the Northwest Territories.
It’s not only the residents, it’s not only the service providers, but it’s the coroner as well. There was a report that was just released that said all alcohol-related deaths were 49 percent; for suicides, 57 percent; accidental, 76 percent, or homicides. That’s no laughing matter. That’s serious and we have to come back here and do another theme day before we see action taken in this regard. I hope not.
There are service gaps. Obviously, there are service gaps, because there are people that are going through the system right now where we need help. A lot of those service gaps are actually identified in the Shared Path Towards Wellness. How many reports, how many discussions, how many consultations do we have to do before we see what we had written down just last June or even a couple of years ago or the year before to actually put that plan into action?
The people of the Northwest Territories want action and they want it now. The sooner we start doing something about addictions and treatment programs and putting our plans into place rather than just discussing them, then we’ll have healthier people, healthier residents of the Northwest Territories who are going to benefit the economy, who are going to benefit our communities…
Mr. Moses, your time for Member’s statements… The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will talk today on the tragic consequences for young children and their lifelong health when we have inadequate addictions treatment and prevention programs.
The permanent harm of fetal alcohol disorders are the two common results of parental addiction. Drinking during pregnancy causes a variety of mental, physical and developmental disabilities in children. Mental and cognitive impairments include brain damage, leading to learning disabilities, poor school performance, poor impulse control, problems with memory, attention and judgment. Physical effects include malformations of the brain, the skeletal system and major organs. Small children exposed to repeated toxic stress may grow up to be adults who have difficulty coping with stress, anxiety and mood, and are far more vulnerable to develop substance abuse problems themselves.
Fetal alcohol affected babies grow into adults with poor employment capacity, much greater tendencies for criminal behaviour and fore-shortened lives. Human costs and suffering are untold. Program costs of ill health, corrections, income assistance, unemployment, low productivity and other factors are estimated up to $1.5 million per fetal alcohol affected person. NWT rates of substance abuse and all the negative indicators of social malaise rooted in addictions are among the highest in the country. Adequate and effective substance abuse prevention and treatment programs are essential to improving the health of our families, communities and economy.
Considering the long-term cost of inaction, failure to devote adequate funds now is the most false of economies. When we are aware of parents who clearly love their children yet place even young toddlers in the care of a TV remote control while they engage in their substance abuse, we know tragedy is in the works. As we know, proper loving care is so critical during the early years of a child’s life, even for children born in the very best of health.
Healthy parents and families free of substance abuse are the place to start. Approaches are proven and well suited to delivery through our community health centre service model, healthy baby programs, parenting skills, workshops, and mothers and tots programs provide the points of contacts for people to also seek addictions treatment and counselling.
Unless we start now with prevention and treatment, we can’t break this cycle. Let’s get it done.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise, also, to join my colleagues in talking about an issue that’s been on my agenda for the last nine years of being an MLA and even before that. We have all the resources in our communities to help somebody who wants to help themselves. It takes a lot of commitment from the person to say enough is enough. Mrs. Groenewegen hit it right on the head. She said, this is not normal.
Growing up we didn’t know about alcohol in our communities. We saw it, we felt it, but we didn’t know about what was happening in our communities when there were parties going on. People were fighting. Kids were running around. We didn’t know the power of alcohol. Now, we said, well, because of the person’s characteristics, the defects, but we didn’t know about the spirit of alcohol and how powerful it is. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, once it gets you, it’s very, very tough to leave. Growing up, one of our saving graces was to go out in the bush, on the land. We were happy because it got us out of the community and to the bush and to live like a family. Over the years, as we remained in the community, the alcohol took us over.
A lot of good people in this room here have the answers. We can sit down and listen to each other. We know the tragic effects to people in our communities who are drinking at 11 and 12 years old. We need to create a place for them to say it’s okay to get help. We need to put our policies in place to say it’s okay to have this issue with alcohol and to get help. We need to create that. We need to think beyond what our policy is saying. I hope this goes out to the people of the Northwest Territories. We are trying as MLAs to help the ones who need the help.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues have indicated, addictions are a large concern for this government and for the country of Canada. As a strong advocate for economic development, increasing jobs, and the economy in the North, I believe that addictions are affecting us a great deal in this area as well.
This government will often ask where will we find the money, how can we afford to do this? How can we afford not to do this? What would the Northwest Territories gross domestic production be like if we didn’t have addictions? How many people have addictions that allow them not to stay at jobs? They are limited by the time they can work. They are often late for work. They often miss days of work. They are often fired from those jobs because of their addictions.
As the Government of the Northwest Territories works to develop more jobs in the North through economic development, we have to look at how we get those Northerners to these jobs. It’s true that some regions are seeing difficulties in economic development; however, even the areas where we are seeing good economic development, it’s difficult to get Northerners to their jobs. These addictions slow people down. People that should be working are not working.
The three diamond mines have been a godsend to this territory and I would hate to see what our economy would be without them. Even they have indicated to us that they have a large, long list of people who have failed the system mostly due to addictions. They have gone through the mines. They have been there once, twice, three times, and even now the mines have come back and given them fourth opportunities. These individuals are not able to work in these types of environments with their addictions. Our government needs to commit more dollars to it.
My point is today that Northerners with addictions need to get back into the workforce. We need to assist them where we can. This government needs to put more money into this program.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
