Bob Bromley

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank all involved for bringing this legislation forward. This really addresses a very serious issue that at its most serious, of course, can lead to severe consequences, most extreme would be suicide. It’s a national concern, but it is a concern, as well, in every community.

What is the role of schools and our educational system dealing with bullying is the question, given that they have considerable responsibilities already for educating our youth. I know there has been considerable discussion on that and I appreciate that.

Schools and the education system...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to bring this motion forward with my colleague Mr. Yakeleya.

We’ve all heard now about the recent assessment of the Quebec model of daycare, the benefits it has enabled and the positive return on the investments financially, socially and economically. We also know this system is not really universal and is not perfect, yet it’s been a hugely positive factor in the social and economic progress of this jurisdiction.

The Scandinavian examples, when you examine them, speak clearly of the success these longer and comprehensive programs have enjoyed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister has captured it here. There is a lot of confusion, which is what I said. There is a lot of opposing information. That’s exactly what I’m looking for, is a timeline. Right now, as I said, this is buried in the fine print of the so-called action plan. I’m looking for a commitment to get this done within all the details that the Minister has mentioned, various programs that are out there, the conflicting information. We need leadership to penetrate this haze and come up with a clear, informed decision. That is what I’m asking for. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. That is exactly my point. We have not resolved this question for decades. We halfway supported our institutions. We have allowed them to fail because we haven’t had the commitment to either make them work or focus somewhere else. Currently, it’s totally buried in the fine print of the strategy.

Will he bring the focus needed to resolve this question? Bring it to the House and let us know the timeline and how he is going to go about this. I would like to hear him commit to that during this session. The day has come. Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think this is a bold and innovative approach to a situation here. I also agree with a lot of the comments I’ve heard, that we need a more comprehensive solution that deals with the health of people. So that this becomes a moot issue, but as we heard earlier today in the House, that is a huge and challenging and long-term undertaking. Whereas, this is a pretty quick piece of action that can help provide some alleviation while we do that more comprehensive work. So on that basis, I also will be supporting the bill. Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to Mr. Yakeleya. Of course, we know the results are vastly increased consumption leading to increases in crime and, ultimately, if this continues, and we’re talking about orders of magnitude increases in consumption here and family violence and addictions and so on, and I think that’s fundamentally the motivating factors that are causing people in the Sahtu to speak out so clearly here. I guess I’ve been convinced. I’ve listened closely to concerns about improperly curtailing businesses involved in the sale of liquor and I’m convinced by our legal advisors...

Thanks to the Minister for that. I believe the Minister provided a range of possible measures. I was hoping to hear how he defines success, what we mean by success. So I’d appreciate any comments the Minister might have on that.

Could the Minister commit to provide this House with an evaluation of the success of each of the current addictions treatment centres that we refer people to? At a minimum, statistics on short-term and long-term relapse rates would be useful, but I imagine the department has other measures of success it could report on. Mahsi.

Thanks for that response and I’m certainly aware that we’ve done this for a long time and this is not something that we just started. I imagine that these different treatment centres use different approaches to treatment and that may be appropriate for people with different backgrounds.

Could the Minister provide an overview of the main schools of thought in terms of how to treat addictions? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe we have ever given consideration of a fully supported alcohol and drug addiction treatment centre the attention it deserves. We need thorough, informed debate to examine the pros and cons leading to a clear, evidenced-based decision and commitment to act.

Ministers have frequently said they are considering various forms of treatment. We’ve played regional politics, closing one centre to open one in another region, only to close it a few years later and never providing the support and oversight needed.

We need to remember that beating an addiction is not like going...

Thanks very much, Madam Chair. I ended with the query about follow-up with this legislation. Given that it is stepping out in a new way in how we run plebiscites across the Northwest Territories and it’s a departure, has the Member considered any follow-up, working with the appropriate authorities for follow-up and monitoring and evaluation to see how this works and be prepared to consider amendments if deemed to be appropriate? Thank you.