Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today about the need for a youth shelter in Yellowknife; a place where youth can go, not just during the day and early evenings, but through the night if necessary, a place where they can take shelter from the elements and be safe from the influences of alcohol and drugs and other negative sides of night life.

Mr. Speaker, I know it is hard to accept, but the fact of the matter is that we do have youth in our community, especially on weekends, who have no place to go because, for many of them, their home is not what a home should be. They have to get away from their own families because they often abuse alcohol and drugs and degenerate into fights and arguments, and they don’t want to be a part of it. If they are lucky, Mr. Speaker, they are taken in by the families of their friends, but this cannot be counted on on a permanent basis. So they go to the youth centre to get away, but the problem is that the youth centre closes at midnight.

So what do they do? They leave the youth centre and go straight down to the Gold Range street. They go there and watch the adults, many of whom they know, pouring out of the bars until two o’clock in the morning. Otherwise, Mr. Speaker, even in the dead of winter, they literally walk the streets all night long because they have no place to go. I am told that even when the RCMP stops them, they are not able to offer any assistance because they don’t really have much option either.

The fact is, Mr. Speaker, there are basic shelters for adult males, adult females, and adults with families, however wanting they may be. For those under the age of 16, the child welfare system moves in where warranted, but for those between 16 and 18, they are caught in a legal limbo, left to fend for themselves.

We, as a society, turn a blind eye on the whole situation, and we wonder why they turn up on the wrong side of the law in no time. Surely, Mr. Speaker, in the affluent society we live in, we can do better by these young people.

I have written to the Minister of Health and Social Services about this, but I have not heard from him. I understand that the SideDoor has proposed a package and will be going to the appropriate agencies for funding. I would like to call upon the government to step up to the plate and work with all of the partners and do the right thing by our precious young people and support the package for an all-night shelter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause