Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The drug crisis sweeping the North is a tragic example of what happens when intergenerational trauma meets the modern marginalization of our communities. Cut off from vital services and with limited access to employment and education and opportunities, our people are increasingly vulnerable to the rising flow of drugs into the territory.
Moving people struggling with trauma and addiction into treatment programs is critical, but the absence of these services in the North is a serious gap in our healthcare system. And even when people complete the treatment program in BC or Alberta, what comes next? Recovery doesn't end when they leave treatment. The next vital step is aftercare or a sober living program. That is why it is so disappointing that my constituents are denied funding for these programs.
The Minister said that she supports people seeking help in the North yet critical gaps remain, especially in our communities. Community leaders do their best with what they have and healing camps and culture programs, but these are only part of the larger and still incomplete network of services. To deny this support is to deny my constituents to their treaty rights to health and well-being. It's a shift responsibility on to communities and Indigenous governments who try their best but simply lack the resources.
Aftercare and sober living programs cost far less than treatment, about a hundred dollars a day compared to $600 for a 50-day minimum treatment program. Yet these essential services remain underfunded. Without them, recovery is fragile and incomplete.
I am calling on this Minister to fund the wholistic recovery process. Anything less is a failure to uphold the long-term health and dignity of our people. I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements.
