Robert Hawkins

It does in this particular case, not realizing they were in a mixed situation. Then it would go to the point of does the department provide an evaluation of where becomes the breakeven point where we choose to house our own inmates at a significant cost or can we consider sending them to another particular facility, if need be, outside the territory and we pay that direct cost. In some cases it may be cheaper for us to pay – by way of a simple example, if I may – $120,000 to house an inmate in Alberta where it costs us $3 million to keep the facility open for that one inmate per year. The...

Now, on that note, when we house one offender in a particular facility, what would it cost per day to house that particular offender per day in our facility? In other words, we would have to have security, somebody at the gate, somebody at the door, somebody to cook, somebody to clean. We would have to have the full costing of that particular facility, because we can’t run them empty. That said, would the department be able to provide that detail?

Thank you, Madam Chair. On a separate issue, I think I heard the Minister say that there was one female inmate at this particular time within the custody services under the GNWT. Does the department have an estimate as to what one inmate costs the system in the context of full costing? At the same time I’d like to know to what Nunavut would pay the Northwest Territories for us to house one inmate in our facility. If I could get that breakdown between the two numbers.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to support my colleagues in this particular motion. I understand very well, and in some respects I acknowledge the need for a conservative agenda where it is a law and order type of government.

There are issues of crime that need to be tackled, and tackled harder, but it’s very difficult out there who believes on a typical process, everyday process, that more jail time, longer jail time really solves the root causes of crime. Very few people would argue that particular situation.

I agree with colleagues that have said serious crime needs to be addressed differently...

Maybe the Minister could explain to the House how Nats’ejee K’eh treats people who have pill problems, who have crack problems, who have meth problems under the present, or I should say under the current design and focus that Nats’ejee K’eh provides as the only treatment centre in the Northwest Territories.

Madam Chair, I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was a little disappointed by the final answer of the Minister of Health and Social Services and I still don’t believe that they’re going to tackle the issue. I’m going to ask him in this particular manner regarding the challenges of the detox and addressing those types of issues. What is the Minister willing to do differently this term that has not been done any other term, to move this file forward? I can assure you, addiction problems have not decreased; rather, they have increased in the Northwest Territories.

We are talking about investment in capital for further growth and we have to ask ourselves at the same time, is this good management of money. Ultimately it comes back to the question of good fiscal responsibility would look at this and ask these types of questions and allow the political types of decisions left up to the politicians. That said, it ties it all together. Then we make the decision on policy because we believe in them. Under fiscal and responsible point of view, what is to stop the Minister for asking the cost of these? If you want to invest in capital facilities, we need to...

I appreciate the facilities or the locations the Minister has highlighted, but in fact those are areas that help people to carry the burden of their addictions, but yet it’s not a detox or a treatment centre by typical design.

Although the Minister doesn’t need to be educated on this particular issue, we know we had an addictions centre downtown that was used for many years, then was closing and then given away. Then they built one on the Detah road and that was closed and now is being used as a training centre. I mean, how many more addictions centres do we have to open and close and still not...

Okay. Then on one hand you’ll say that it’s better to have local programming even though it may be a lot of money, but we don’t know this for sure, of course. Yet, on the other hand, you’d say we’d like to see our money spent specifically to help people. I mean, quite often I’ve heard calls for on-the-land programs, but yet the first answer is we don’t have any money. What I’m asking for is what harm has it done to do an analysis to ask ourselves the cost of running – and I’m talking about the smaller type of facilities where we only have a couple of inmates potentially, be it now or certainly...