Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given recent statistics on the record number of suicides and drug overdoses within the NWT over the last year, can the Minister of health tell us if there's an urgency, or any renewed effort within her department, to convert any vacant buildings within the NWT into an aftercare and detox centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for this question and for highlighting the prevention piece which is to look at Canada's safe drinking guidelines that were recently revised and reissued in considering what level of risk you're comfortable with if you do consume alcohol. Drug poisonings are entirely another story, which really have to do with taking a different order of risk.
So there is urgency, and the urgency is both on the prevention and the treatment side. The magic is not in a building. The magic is in having a person make that appointment with community counselling and get him or herself into the treatment stream so that they can be treated appropriately for detox treatment and then hopefully, in the fullness of time, aftercare. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in light of the new federal health funding that was announced last month for the NWT, can the Minister tell us is there any of that new funding will be used specifically to address the gaps in aftercare and detox services within the NWT and if so, what will that look like? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the new funding pots, and what they call the tailored bilaterals, has one for mental health and substance use. The specific use this money will be put to has not been negotiated or agreed to. It's tied to federallyimposed outcomes. So there's a set of negotiations that need to take place between the Department of Health and Social Services and the federal government to figure out how the four tailored bilaterals, including the one on mental health and substance use, are going to roll out. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain exactly what it would take in terms of financial resources and manpower for the Government of the Northwest Territories to convert a vacant building like the old Trailcross Treatment Centre, for example, into a territorial aftercare and detox centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the exact cost; they don't exist. And so what I can say is that there has been a preliminary assessment of Trailcross, and it seems to have some viable life left in it. So what the department has committed to doing is considering what kind of programming we could offer in that facility and make it viable as a programming site again, whatever that program might be.
I want to mention that we have a transitional housing program that is in development in the Department of Health and Social Services. We put out request for proposals last year. Four communities responded, and each of them have developed a model for aftercare and we're now working with them to bring those models to life. And so we're looking forward to strengthening our continuum of service with this particular offering. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, since the contract between Poundmaker's Lodge and Health ended last year, the NWT has lacked an option to send NWT residents to an Indigenousbased addictions treatment centre in the south.
Can the Minister tell us if her department has decided on a new service provider for this and will it be on track to be ready for April 1st? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. There were two responses for the request for proposals for Indigenousfocused aftercare pardon me, a facilitybased treatment. And they are being reviewed at this time. It is still our intention to have something in place by April 1st. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
