Debates of May 29, 2018 (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I spoke of a constituent of mine who undertook a tremendous amount of grassroots advocacy for local options for addictions treatment in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if he can speak to the aftercare programs that the government is currently operating and in the process of reviewing. He has spoken about it on the floor in the House before, if he can give this House an update. Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven't reviewed Hansard, but I am pretty sure, if we go back, I indicated at that time that I don't think we are necessarily doing everything we can or even enough for aftercare. I travelled with members of the Social Envelope Committee to different treatment facilities around the Northwest Territories. We heard loud and clear that we need to do more.

To that end, we are currently working on an addictions recovery action plan. The committee has made a number of solid recommendations. I am going to be responding to those recommendations on June 1st. In short, we are agreeing with the recommendations and are happy to move forward with committee to find some ways to improve the services we are providing for aftercare throughout the Northwest Territories.

Currently, when somebody is coming back from a treatment facility, they are required to have an aftercare plan in their community, in their region, where possible. Clearly, there are gaps that we need to close. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for providing that update. I know there was a lot of work that has been undertaken by both the standing committee and the Minister. I would like to ask about another issue that was raised by my constituent, which is the availability of detox services in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister speak to those programs?

There are different types of detox. We do have a withdrawal management program. When it comes to a medical detox, we can provide those services today in different hospitals in the Northwest Territories. We provide medical detox in Stanton, and we provide medical detox within the hospital in Hay River.

The four facilities that we are contracted with for southern placement actually have access either on-site to medical and social detox, or they are contracted with another facility in their communities for social and medical detox. All of our facilities have it. We have medical detox here in the Northwest Territories.

When it comes to social detox, there are many different ways that this can be done. In some cases, it is working with Indigenous governments and taking advantage of on-the-land programs that exist that help people get away from their communities, get out on the land, have an opportunity to detach from the community setting and connect with the cultural setting.

There are many different ways that we can do both types of detox. This is an area that I think we need to also find better approaches to enhance what we are doing to be better at what we are doing. This will be included within the addictions recovery action plan.

There are, of course, a lot of discussion around a bricks-and-mortar facility. I know that, at this time, that is not really in the cards. That is what we have heard loud and clear. There is good evidence to support that. We are looking at the former Stanton Hospital site. Are there going to be any additional detox or aftercare programs operated through that lease once the new hospital opens?

In the new hospital, as in the current hospital and Hay River, we don't dedicate beds for detox, but we have beds available for detox. If somebody needs detox services, medical detox, we have the ability to facilitate that in our facilities. With Stanton, we are going to have additional beds, so that will become easier, not more difficult.

Having said that, there are also no plans to put any detox beds in the old Stanton building. The old Stanton building is completely spoken for when it comes to things like extended care, long-term care, TO/PT, other outpatient services, as well as the Frame Lake Clinic which is going to be in that building. Plus, we also need kitchens and whatnot to provide services to extended care and long-term care. So, no plans to put anything in the old hospital.

Having said that, we have been working with the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, who wants to put an Indigenous or Aboriginal wellness centre on that property. We are very supportive of this. We are working closely with them to find a way to make this a reality. They are intending to provide services to residents from the Northwest Territories that will help people be better prepared to take advantage of some of the addictions programs that we have here in the Northwest Territories. That's a great partnership. I look forward to continuing to make progress on that, and I look forward to seeing that constructed on the Stanton campus.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, third-party partners are key to successfully resolving these issues, especially working with Indigenous people, so I commend the Minister for bringing that forward.

I am mindful of an answer he gave to my honourable friend from Hay River North that you need a business case to support additional spending. Given that addictions treatment and these aftercare programs are gaps that have been identified and will require a significant amount of resources to plug those gaps, is the Minister going to bring forward a costed proposal or a business case that will see more financial resources dedicated to addictions treatment in the Northwest Territories within the next cycle of business planning? Thank you.

It is a little premature for me to say for sure. I anticipate there will be some requirements for some additional resources, but I am not prepared to say how much we think that is at this point.

As I have said when asked this question in other areas, Mr. Speaker, we spend an awful lot of money in the Government of the Northwest Territories and an awful lot of money in Health and Social Services. Before we can ask for more, we need to make sure that we are spending the money right and that we are getting maximum benefit and maximum dollar for every dollar that we spend.

We do invest a lot in addictions. We need to make sure we are getting that right. It may require some re-profiling of how we spend to get maximum benefit. If we do that and still find that we need money, I am prepared to go to FMBS to make that request. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.