Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about concerns of addiction. Certainly, as we look at the beginning of this new Assembly, there are many people here that would like to see the addictions problems addressed. Although I know the Minister is new to the job, I would like to highlight a comment made in Wednesday’s Hansard on December 7th on page 5, in which the Premier says we need to find creative ways to address addictions, mental health, and promote wellness.

That now brings me to the question to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Is the new leader of that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would ask the Department of Justice if there is any reason why they wouldn’t create a cost-benefit analysis to ask themselves where they’re getting good value for money when considering balancing the costs of carrying offenders and the costs of findings alternative options. Thank you.

I’m sure with…Yeah. Okay. What I’m getting at is housing one inmate, even if I take your fee of $266 per day as just a rough estimate, even if I round it up to $300 per day, we’re still talking about the cost of about $120,000 a year to run a facility for that specific person on the basis of what they bring in for cost. Now, I ask you what is the cost to run that facility when we have to staff it. In other words, are the costs coming in justifying the expense to keep the doors open? I wonder, if we’re keeping the facility open for one person, would it not make economic sense to transfer this...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would maybe appreciate if I could probably take a second stab at it, rather than interpretation. I’d like to know the cost Nunavut would pay us to house one inmate. If they want to provide that, I’d like to start with that particular fee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One particular issue is the investment in the Fort Smith program. I don’t say this in the context of I don’t think the program shouldn’t be expanded or better accommodated. I’m just wondering about the timing of this particular investment with regard to, obviously, the recent passage of Bill C-10. Shouldn’t the department be looking more towards a longer strategy, rather than trying to fix things for the short term? It would make sense, in my view, that the future programming, which is a significant unknown right now, should be addressed first.

I guess the question to...

I’d like the Minister to provide the information, if he would, on how many people have gone to the southern placement of detox centres and how many people have actually applied and been refused to attend. What alternative methods have they been given as a particular recommendation? I would affirm or assert, in this particular case, that more people have been denied appropriate treatment than have received the focus they should have.

I’ve made many calls to Health and Social Services and their suggestion, if you have a crack problem or a meth problem, is to go to either the Tree of Peace or Salvation Army or even be sent to Nats’ejee K’eh in Hay River. You have to fail there first, before you can seek treatment in a southern facility that is appropriate to your specific illness to be addressed. I’ve never found that we’ve encouraged people to fail the right way before we choose to address their particular issue. Is there going to be a new, updated methodology as to who we deal with people with serious alcohol and drug...

For us to support further investment in capital initiatives, we should have a context as to what the true costs are. That is why I keep coming back to it. We have to evaluate a longer term strategy with the focus on where our money is better spent.

Again, we have alternative measures that have always been called upon. Maybe they need more support, more bolstering. What money is being kept away from alternative options because maybe money isn’t being spent efficiently?

That goes back to the point of using a cost-benefit analysis. I didn’t ask to do an evaluation of other jurisdictions. I am not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take exception with the last comment provided by the Minister. We only have one treatment centre, but the problem where I take exception with that is it’s not focused on detox or multi-problems when it comes to alcohol or drugs such as crack and meth. My fear, and the fear of many people, is has this government given up on people with addictions. Will this government finally take a clear stance, draw up a plan and build or even lease a detox centre to treat the people of the Northwest Territories who suffer from addictions? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s platitudes about trying to be heroic on a territorial level. I am sorry. Can someone give him a flag of the territory? On one hand he is interested in spending money in a prudent way, but there is no way of saying that we are. Why would we keep a facility open for one inmate? That is kind of the point, which is it doesn’t make an economic sense. There has to be a breakeven point that makes sense, and let politicians make the political decisions as to where it is. Ultimately the issue comes down to if the politicians don’t have the facts it is difficult for us to...