Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Is committee agreed?

Sergeant-at-Arms, if you would please escort the witness into the Chamber.

Mr. Abernethy, would you introduce your witnesses, please?

Are there any other opening comments? We will move onto detail. We will defer the title page of the bill. Clause 1.

---Clauses 1 through 3 inclusive approved

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion. As I referenced in my statement, it’s time to put the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan to work. It is not time for further studying.

There are lots of actions that are planned for in the document, but the department needs the resources to get the job done. That’s what is asked for in this motion: resources.

This Assembly should have a priority focus on prevention and addictions. We said so in our Caucus priorities. The Assembly should put money into those priorities if we really believe what we said over a year ago. There’s no...

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Abernethy, do you have witnesses that you would like to bring into the House?

I have to disagree with the Minister. This would not be a quick fix. We’ve been studying this problem for a very long time, and I think the Minister, were he to look at the asks that the people in the communities have been making over many years, I think he would find that there were things that we could do right now. We need supports in our communities.

I’d like to ask the Minister – he was with me when we did the Child and Family Services Act review – did the Minister hear from the communities what I heard, that they need supports on the ground?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. I will open the floor to general comments. Are there any general comments? Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Thank you to your witness. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you would escort the witness out of the Chamber.

We’ll move onto Bill 13, An Act to Repeal the Credit Union Act. We’ll go to the Minister responsible for the bill. Mr. Abernethy, do you have any comments or an introduction to the bill?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask some questions, as well, of the Minister of Health and Social Services.

I heard the Minister in responding to Mrs. Groenewegen in answer to the question about money, that there needed to be support. I would suggest to the Minister that the support for additional funds in the department to deal with the problem of addictions, particularly alcohol, is already there. You’ve got 11 votes on this side of the House already.

I’d like to ask the Minister, knowing that he’s got support from the majority of the House, and I imagine he’s got support on the other...

Does committee agree?