Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I have had conversations with him previously, and I am very encouraged to see this happening. Mr. Speaker, what were some of the things that they saw that can implemented right away for the betterment of our inmates, that we saw at the Guthrie House?

I thank the Minister for that nice answer, and it kind of led into my other question that I already was going to ask. When he talks about these programs, and having staff in the corrections centres, do we have psychologists and addiction counsellors in each of our corrections institutes?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently, I heard on the news that the Government of Canada was wrapping up the public consultation in its review of the country's criminal justice system. During the review in the NWT, some were saying that the territorial system incarcerates people with addictions, disability, and poor mental health, where it should be offering them treatment. Mr. Speaker, the news article spoke about how their view is focusing on issues such as delays in the court system, better support for victims of crime, and decreasing the number of marginalized and vulnerable people...

I thank the Minister for that great answer. It does help us understand better as we move forward. I guess I should have phrased it "for all people" and not just going out for treatment to the facilities. I thank the Minister for the clarification. Mr. Speaker, what is the department doing to help residents who return home from treatment with their after-care? Because it seems to me, when we talk about that, what are we doing? That seems to be a big issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was asking questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services about the treatment centres, and I would like to follow up with some additional questions here today. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise us in the past fiscal year how many adults and youth have we sent out for treatment and what were the associated costs with these programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister's answer in a little bit more in depth. It is good to see that we are doing those things. My next question is: Mr. Speaker, has the department looked at the Guthrie House model and seen if it is feasible to implement this type of model in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know how I'm going to match that. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about Guthrie House and inmates who have trauma and addictions and that. My questions are to the Minister of Justice. In regards to dealing with inmates with trauma and addictions, can the Minister please tell us what the department does to help inmates deal with these matters while they are incarcerated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer. Mr. Speaker, these four facility are for adults. My next question to the Minister is: with our youth population and their addictions and as they move forward, is the Minister able to advise this House which facilities that we use contract to deal with our youth addiction issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for his answer. I have to agree. Those facilities are amazing. I think that the department and the people who were consulted did a great job of selecting these facilities. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us: how does a resident select a facility that they wish to attend to address their addictions? So, in other words, with these four facilities, how do they select the ones that is best suited for them?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On December 3rd to 8th, the Standing Committee on Social Development and the Minister of Health and Social Services had the opportunity to visit the four treatment centres that the Government of the Northwest Territories has contracts with, that provide treatment programs for the residents of the NWT. As well, we had the opportunity to visit Guthrie House, part of the BC Corrections, that provide residents and inmates with the unique program that helps them deal with trauma and addictions. Mr. Speaker, the trip was about clearer links between addictions and mental...