Lack of ID stalls access to in-patient addictions treatment for Inuvik residents
ID needed to fly south to a treatment facility; people back out of decision to seek help during wait for ID
Many people in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, with addictions aren't getting the help they need because they don't have proper identification, according to a local pastor.
Pastor Stephen Martin of the town's Anglican church says the lack of identification means that patients seeking in-patient addictions treatment can't board planes to fly to centres in the south. N.W.T. does not have a residential addictions treatment facility.
Inuvik, which has a population of about 3,400, is small enough that many people don't require vehicles to get around, rendering drivers' licences irrelevant for much of the population.
Many communities across the North have similar situations, which is causing voter identification issues ahead of the upcoming federal election.
It can take a month or longer to get a birth certificate, and two to four weeks for a general identification card. During that waiting period, according to Martin, many people who seek treatment return to their lifestyle of addiction.
"By the time we get all this sorted out, it takes a while," he said. "We lose them in the shuffle."
Martin says he's seen the situation play out four times in the past year, while running the town's wet shelter. The shelter closed in June due to cost issues.
'Get back into that cycle, and you've lost them'
Martin's comments come days after members of a territorial standing committee seeking comment on a proposed Mental Health Act came to Inuvik.
Kimberly Fairman, the territory's director of mental health and addictions, couldn't comment on the wait for identification, but says the department will do its best to support people.
"I would just encourage them to keep working with their provider at the community level and look for options," she said. "We can work closely with people, trying to get them the services they need in a timely manner."
The territory's department of transportation said they are looking into ways to shorten the wait for an identification card.
Martin, though, says time is of the essence, as any delay for a person seeking treatment could mean that they become less motivated to seek help and return to their addiction.
"They get back with friends and family, get back into that cycle, and you've lost them," he said. "And it will be hard to get them to come around."