Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to talk to an issue here about one of our facilities. I mentioned it earlier in my Member’s statement about using existing infrastructure for treatment programs. One in particular is a building in Inuvik. It’s the Arctic Tern building. There have been a lot of issues with that, but I know this government has been working on stabilizing the foundation.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services just for a quick update on that foundation and whether it was stabilized or not, and is the building going to be able to be used for other departments?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister responsible for Public Works, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The building has been completed. We had form-jacked the foundation. It was completed as of January. We have inspected the building and it’s ready for reuse by another department if need be.
I’m glad to hear that the building is ready for reuse. I know that there was a lot of cost in getting that building up and running.
I’d like to ask the Minister, in regard to that building, how many beds are currently in that building. I know it was used before for a young offenders facility, so I wonder how many beds are in that building that could be used as well.
I don’t have that information with me here. I don’t know how many bed facility that was back when it was used as a young offenders facility, but I can get that information for the Member.
The reason I’m asking is we do have a homelessness issue here in the Northwest Territories, a transitional house issue. We also have an addictions problem, as you heard here today.
I just want to ask the Minister, have any departments looked at grabbing that facility for use, and can he let us know which departments have looked at using that facility that’s going back into the government stock?
Yes, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources new management has looked at that facility for a possible relocation of the Shell Lake operations into the Arctic Tern facility.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we have had questions on this at the beginning of this Legislative Assembly. Did the Minister have any dialogue with the Minister of Health and Social Services to look at Arctic Tern as a possible addictions treatment centre and detox facility?
I was going to but the Minister changed… No.
---Laughter
No, I have not had consultation with the Minister of Health on using that facility for a treatment centre at this time.
