Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about taking on social challenges. I am very pleased to see that the City of Yellowknife, in support with the GNWT, is doing a lot of good things, in particular in downtown Yellowknife in that regard. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and I am wondering if the Minister could kindly provide us an update on the status of the relocation of the day shelter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the last sitting, I indicated a willingness and a desire to move the day shelter. At that time, I also indicated that we were hoping to tie it in with a sobering centre and coshare a location; separate entrances because they are different programs, but coshare a location.
Unfortunately, we have had an incredibly hard time finding a location downtown for a sobering centre. I think we have looked at as many as 12 properties, and all of them had to be rejected for one reason or another. Some of them were space issues. Others were landlords weren't prepared to rent for this purpose. Some of them had other structural issues that we couldn't deal with.
We are still moving forward, trying to find a location, but we have had to think a little bit broader, possibly moving the sobering centre out of the downtown core, at least for the interim, until we can find a more permanent location in the downtown core. Short story long, it is taking way longer than we anticipated.
Once we have a sobering centre figured out, we will be in a better position to figure out if we can immediately move the day shelter or if it is going to have to be moved in transition. I don't have any dates, Mr. Speaker. I wish I did. I am hoping to have some additional information by the end of this week, at which point I'd love to have a sitdown with the honourable Members opposite to discuss our options and see if we can find some resolution. This has got to happen, Mr. Speaker. It is a priority of this government. I know it is a priority of the Members. We have got to find a way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister just spoke about how there might be consideration of having the day shelter and the sobering centre together. Are there possibilities in finding a quicker solution by having these as two separate entities?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think in the short term, we are not going to have any options but to consider them as two separate entities. I think in the long term, it would be great if we could find a way to co-locate them. At the end of the day, we need both services. If we cannot find a way to roll them into a single building with separate entrances because, once again, they are different programs, we have to absolutely, without question, be open to alternate locations.
Obviously, one of the reasons we are looking at co-locating is to get some economies of scale, and help us reduce and control some costs. As I've indicated, we have made a commitment to move the day shelter. We made a commitment to finding a sobering centre, and implement a sobering centre here in the Northwest Territories. We are still living up to that. We are frustrated by the fact that it is taking a little longer than anticipated. As I said, I am hoping to have some information by this weekend. Hopefully, we will have a chance to meet with committee, and have a conversation, hopefully, maybe as soon as next week.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I wonder, also, if the Minister can provide us an update on what we would refer to as the "Wet Centre." There is discussion that we were going to have the possibilities of a facility where those who were in need could go and have portioned amounts of alcohol to help them, and we have, I believe, put some funding towards this. Is there a location, and is there a program that we are going to be following through with, Mr. Speaker?
There has never actually been a budget allocated to a managed alcohol program. It is a commitment we have made, but as I indicated last October, our first priority is to get a sobering centre in place. A sobering centre is probably the most ideal location to have a managed alcohol program.
Since then, it has come to our attention that the City of Yellowknife has put in an application to the federal government for a managed alcohol-type program. We are waiting to see what the results are there, and whether or not they are going to need us to be involved, partnering in providing some technical expertise. We are open to that. When it comes to managed alcohol programs, you have got to make sure that it is well-designed and makes sense.
I had an opportunity to visit a managed alcohol program in Ottawa where we heard a lot about the positive aspects, and the negative aspects, and how important it is to have a thoroughly and properly designed program, focused on the clients who will be utilizing the program.
We are still open to it. We still have made the commitment, but it was never going to be immediate. We wanted to get the sobering centre in first, and move from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
