Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community and residents of Hay River are very concerned with the events over the last several months that resulted in a number of overdoses and alleged drug offences. It has become a crisis.

Can the Minister confirm that he is willing to have his department set up a meeting with the RCMP, Town of Hay River, and NGOs, to discuss solutions to address the issue of the drug trade? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Martin. Member.

Thank you. Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm if the direction this government is taking to combat the drug trade in the NWT working; do we need to reevaluate the department's approach and the RCMP's approach? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this pandemic has been unforgiving. In Canada, to date, there have been more than 36,000 deaths.

The effect of this pandemic has, in part, helped fuel addictions and overdoses in this country. Data from the Government of Canada's document "Opioid and StimulantRelated Harms in Canada" states that between 2016 and 2021 there has been approximately 24,600 plus deaths throughout Canada. It is mostly impacting those between 20 to 49 years of age, with males accounting for 75 percent of deaths. Without health supports, the result of opioid addiction may well be...

Mr. Martin.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I guess the same thing with the emergency repair program as well, like that's a very important one. I'm dealing with some clients who, you know, needed some repairs right away and, you know, when you look at it, it's an emergency repair. So that means it has to be done quickly. And a lot of times what happens is that that I find is that the application process and when the work has to be done just don't match up. And what I tell clients, and maybe it's the wrong thing to do, is I say just go get the work done, send me the bills and I'll send them in and I'll talk...

There's no further questions. Okay, no further questions. So there's additional information on page 390 which is lease commitments. Any questions? Ms. Semmler.