Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are on the Minister of Health and Social Service’s Minister’s statement that he made today. Obviously, it’s sparked a lot of concerns and questions on this side of the House in question period today.
In the statement that he made earlier, he made reference to the government offers addictions counselling through community wellness workers, mental health workers. Then he mentions detox programs. That caught my attention.
Can the Minister tell me what these detox programs are, where they are, and can he give me a specific example other than the emergency rooms and the jail cells? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Detox is available in the two hospitals that we operate, Stanton Territorial Hospital and the Beaufort-Delta Regional Hospital. There is also, I think, a capability of an individual to go through detoxification in the larger health centres. Thank you.
I’d like to ask the Minister how many detox beds does this territory have to help clients that are in need; the number of beds for our 45,000 population here in the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One bed in each facility comes to mind, but I don’t have that information with me. Thank you.
That sounds like two detox beds for a situation that we have that’s very disastrous in the Northwest Territories under mental health and addictions, specifically alcohol abuse. In the statement, the Minister goes on and talks about a territorial treatment centre, followed by saying that we support communities and NGOs to provide community-based programs, and then he says, and send people to southern Canada to attend treatment programs. What’s wrong with the one we have here in the North? In fact, Mr. Speaker, I believe that our Territorial Treatment Centre is only about 50 percent accommodated at best. I want to ask the Minister why we send clients south when we have a Territorial Treatment Centre that’s not always fully occupied. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Sometimes there’s a specialized treatment that’s not available at Nats'ejee K'eh. However, in order for an individual to get a southern placement, they have to go through a process. That’s a process that’s usually initiated at the community level and then goes through some form of either a regional health and social services authority or through the department. Although I don’t know the details on how people end up in southern treatment, I do know that it is a process and usually the placement is first. If somebody wants to go to residential treatment, the placement would be first at Nats'ejee K'eh. If they can’t provide what’s necessary for that individual to stop drinking or stop using drugs, they would then be placed in the South. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Short, final supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister goes on and says it’s a simple question with complicated answers. I can find some simple answers here. We need a detox centre and beds. We need a culturally appropriate treatment centre, mental health workers, and we need to decrease the days needed for people to be sober to gain access to these treatment centres. We also need early childhood programs.
I’d like to ask the Minister, in his discussions in the region, what’s the cost for the Minister and his staff to hold these discussions in the region, because our service providers that are struggling would really like to know what that cost is going to be. Thank you.
I’m assuming that the Member is asking about the cost of me and my staff.
---Interjection
The forum? It costs $300,000. That’s our budget and we will be getting the money from the federal government to cover the cost. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
