Debates of May 15, 2007 (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, as you can see, we are talking about alcohol. I want to talk about alcohol abuse. We don’t talk about it enough. Could it be that we have become acclimatized or desensitized to the presence of alcohol abuse in the North? Maybe we have accepted it as a fact of life in the North and we have just learned to live with it.

Occasionally, we throw up some stats on some of our social indicators compared to other jurisdictions or national averages. Yes, there we are still with some of the worst instances of premature deaths, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, boating accidents, teen pregnancies, FASD and sexually transmitted diseases. Alcohol abuse affects all of these indicators. Is this what we are prepared to accept? We spend millions of dollars addressing health, wellness, child and family violence, justice, policing and education challenges related to alcohol abuse. I often wonder how the RCMP members can stay positive about the work that they have to do, when we think about how much of their time and efforts are absorbed by alcohol-related calls to deal with domestic violence, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. It must be very discouraging after awhile.

So what does our society and attitudes toward alcohol abuse teach our young people? One other Member shared with me today -- and this is what they observed when they were growing up -- if there is something to celebrate, just about anything, drink alcohol. If it is a sporting event, drink alcohol. If you are unhappy, sad or stressed out, drink alcohol. Mr. Speaker, abusing alcohol is a personal choice, but it is little wonder that so many people make that choice when it has become such a normal way of life in the North. As a personal choice, people need to understand that it affects everybody in their sphere of influence. They are sending a message to everyone around them that it is normal, it is okay.

Alcohol abuse in some way touches on and permeates a life in every region, in every community, every family and every individual in the North today. It impacts the work of every teacher, nurse, RCMP member, counsellor and extensively affects the work of us as a government. What could we do with the resources now dedicated to the ravages of alcohol abuse? Just imagine the possibilities. We need to recognize alcohol for what it is. Mr. McLeod said that it is a killer. I have to tell you today that I state that I hate alcohol and the effect it has on our people. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues here today to declare alcohol abuse and alcoholism our public enemy number one. Mr. Speaker, there’s nothing else that harms us more and creates more sorrow and hardship and prevents us from moving ahead and being the best that we can be than the overuse and abuse of alcohol. Inappropriate use of alcohol is condemning unaccounted numbers of our children to lifelong conditions of FASD and FAE. Alcohol abuse is keeping our residents out of schools and workplaces and into hospitals and jails. Alcohol abuse is a quick segue to our people going into a horrendous and miserable life of drug addiction and drug dealing and all the other problems that come with that.

Mr. Speaker, alcohol abuse is infecting our people with STD and STI and spreading those diseases. Mr. Speaker, I would venture to say if alcohol abuse was stopped today we would see our crime rates go down by at least 90 percent. If we can stop alcohol abuse, we would not have to hear about women being locked up for days and being raped and beaten up. Mr. Speaker, we wouldn't need to have so many children suffering from the trauma of family violence if we could stop alcohol abuse.

Mr. Speaker, in our travels to communities we learn that there is rampant elder abuse arising from alcohol abuse by young people. Our seniors are living in fear because of the goings on and all-night drinking that goes on in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, we must deal with alcohol abuse head on and we need to address them on all three fronts: prevention, treatment and enforcement. The strongest focus has to be on prevention, because no treatment and enforcement would be enough if we don’t address the prevention in a very serious way. Mr. Speaker, this is why we need to denormalize abuse of alcohol. We have to make it unacceptable for people to get drunk and inflict pain and suffering on others. Mr. Speaker, I want to suggest a slogan of Don’t Be a Bottlehead for consideration to go with the Don’t Be a Butthead campaign, but I kind of like the…

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement?

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. I’m not sure how that would compete with Don’t Be a Boozehound, but we need to do a concerted and focussed and well-resourced campaign and to engage everybody in our communities and everybody in the Territories to say that we have zero tolerance for alcohol abuse and negative effects of alcohol. Mr. Speaker, I would like to invite the leaders and everyone in our territory to join us in this campaign. Thank you.

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