Tom Beaulieu

As I indicated, in McPherson we have a lot of people over the age of 60, many of which do require home care. There are 132 people in the community that require home care, so Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority are looking at ways now how to enhance that service, recognizing they only have one home care worker who can’t possibly service all those people. So we have asked them to look at it and they are looking at it.

In Tsiigehtchic at this time – and we can take another look at it, I’m not saying we won’t look at it – we have 20 people over the age of 60, and there is some need...

The department is doing a review of the Nats’ejee K’eh Treatment Centre at this time. I’m expecting to be reviewing the report within the next couple of months. In as far as expecting that we have to have people fail at Nats’ejee K’eh before we send them elsewhere, I’m not sure that’s a policy of this government. What I do know is that we do have a committee that looks at out-of-territory placements for addiction issues that cannot be addressed at a treatment centre at Nats’ejee K’eh.

The department is looking at that now. We have already had communications from the Member that this was an issue. We looked into the storage of the food, the country foods and so on. I’ve asked the department, specifically Health and Social Services, to look into that issue at this time.

Yes, as the Member responsible for Seniors that is my intention, is to work with the Department of Education on the Seniors Fuel Subsidy Program. Sometimes – the Member is right – the individuals are living with the elder and supporting the elder, but because the policy indicates that they need to have a Revenue Canada form filled out to determine their income, the individual senior loses the fuel subsidy. Also in public housing, sometimes the seniors who are eligible for no rent in public housing will sometimes end up paying rent when they’re getting support from their family.

As the Minister...

Some of the organizations that I spoke of do deal with the fact that individuals, prior to attending treatment, have to essentially be alcohol or drug free for several weeks prior to attending. There’s also a program in the Sally Ann where there’s a withdrawal management system. There’s a unit there that individuals go, to go through withdrawal. With those programs, the intention is to use individuals that are serious about coming to treatment to deal with their issues, they go there, they remain essentially drug free or alcohol free for a certain period of time before they go for treatment...

The department is spending about $6 million on mental health and addictions. In the city of Yellowknife the department is supporting programs and the Tree of Peace for addictions programs at the Sally Ann, at the John Howard Society. As far as straight detox goes, at this time we have a ward at the hospital, which is not specific to addictions, but does include addictions. Then there’s also the Nats’ejee K’eh Centre in Hay River that’s there for the treatment of people with addictions. Right now that unit is running at about 50 percent capacity each time they have an intake. Thank you.

Yes, this department would be prepared to deal with Housing, Education and the Income Support Program, housing programs, public housing programs, so that we can prioritize the counseling needs at the community levels. Thank you.

The intention is to fill the vacancies of the mental health and addiction workers that are currently in place. Right now there are vacancies which are causing the backlog, and the intention is to move some of those people, if necessary, to out-of-territory options in order to get the counseling necessary for the individuals. But a key is to try to fill the vacancies, which we are having some difficulty doing at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intention of the department is to continue with the Community Counselling Program, trying to address some of the wellness services in the community, increase the wellness services in the community, and also reviewing the Mental Health Act. The department is waiting for the release of the national mental health report from the Canadian Mental Health Commission. I will be attending the National Mental Health Summit in Winnipeg in February as a part of the release of that commission report. Thank you.

I don’t know the specifics of how Nats’ejee K’eh deals with various addictions. All addictions and all individuals with addictions are pretty independent and very individualistic. Some people who have those issues can be assisted at the treatment centre in Hay River. However, some can’t. That’s why we have the out-of-territory placement committee and they will review those so that if there are people with addictions, that option is available to them to apply for a treatment facility outside of the Territories, and we have a committee that will look at that.