Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is probably the third or fourth time in as little as four months I’ve had to remind Members of Cabinet, especially the Department of Health and Social Services, as per page 21 of the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions of the 17th Assembly, number 3. “Except under extraordinary circumstances, Members of the Legislative Assembly should be made aware of and have opportunity to discuss significant announcements, changes, consultations or initiatives before they are released to the public or introduced in the Legislative Assembly. Use of the element of surprise is inconsistent with consensus government.”
Mr. Speaker, this morning I find myself reading News/North introducing a brand new pilot project initiative for youth addictions treatment that will be launched soon in the Deh Cho. Funny thing, Mr. Speaker, as deputy chair of Standing Committee on Social Programs, this is the first time I’ve seen this information and was surprised to read about it in the local paper.
My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services please inform the Members here what exactly is this new youth addictions treatment pilot project announcement? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This initiative that was identified in the paper today is actually an action item that was identified in the Shared Path Towards Wellness, A Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan 2012-2015, which has both been tabled in this House but also brought forward for discussion with committee. I will check Hansard over the last couple of sessions, but I’m pretty sure the Minister of Health also mentioned it in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, I’m very familiar with the initiatives the Minister tabled in the House. Unfortunately, this is a pilot project which had nothing to do with those recommendations per se and was never brought to committee for detail.
Can the Minister indicate here what are the terms of reference for this new pilot project and is this open to all youth across the Northwest Territories?
Youth addictions prevention promotion activities are key factors in addressing mental health and addictions in the Northwest Territories. This is, once again, outlined in a Shared Path Towards Wellness, A Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan 2012-2015. Within that are a number of current projects that are ongoing which include training of health and social services authorities staff to use early intervention screening tools and counselling techniques to more effectively identify and support youth in dealing with their addictions and/or mental health issues.
Also, the project that the Member is talking about today, working with the Deh Cho communities to develop a youth on-the-land pilot program, this pilot project is currently in the planning stages and will be implemented during the spring/summer of 2014 in the Deh Cho. This is a pilot project to help us develop a program that we’ll hopefully be able to roll out to different communities and regions in the Northwest Territories. This pilot project is where we’re going to learn and develop something that we hope works. Once again, this is an initiative that has been discussed and identified within the action plan. We want to work with youth throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I assume from the Minister’s response that this pilot project is going to be only reserved for youth in the Deh Cho. I guess my question was: Will all youth have an opportunity in the pilot project? We didn’t quite hear that today here.
Can the Minister indicate what are the budget parameters in reference to this pilot project and where did he get the money from? Thank you.
One hundred thousand dollars of existing territorial services program budget for 2013 has been reallocated to cover the expenses associated with the initial planning and this pilot study. Once again, we’re going to run a pilot project in the Deh Cho and when we figure out what aspects of it work, how to make a program that works across the Territories, we’ll certainly work with committee to find a way to roll that out in the rest of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
I’m assuming this $100,000 oops was a little misnomer that happened during the changeover. I’ll give that to the Minister.
Can the Minister reassure the Members of this House that all future significant announcements or initiatives from his department will be properly vetted with members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for the remainder of his term? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think I was pretty clear on that last week. I plan on working with committee as we move forward on major initiatives within the Department of Health and Social Services over the next two years. This is a consensus government. We need to be partners and we need to work together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
