A re-elected Yukon Party government would provide the city with a new Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) treatment centre, Premier Darrell Pasloski promised today.

"Addiction issues have huge impacts on our communities,” said Pasloski.

He spoke to members of the media alongside candidates Marian Horne, who is the Minister of Justice, and Mike Nixon.

"It clogs our courtrooms, it fills our court dockets, it drains the time of our peace officers, it leaves many children effectively parent-less and it takes vast resources out of our social system as a whole,” Pasloski said.

The new facility would replace the existing Sarah Steele Building on Sixth Avenue and would provide Whitehorse with an updated, more efficient drug and alcohol treatment facility, the premier said.

"We will design a building that provides our health care professionals with the tools they need to do their job, provides enough space in our detox and treatment facility to ensure that we can provide health for those people who need it and allows us to expand our existing treatment programs as well,” said Pasloski.

The capital cost of the project is expected to be about $5 million.

Operations costs for the facility have yet to be announced. Pasloski said those numbers will be provided after the party has had the opportunity to discuss treatment options further with addictions professionals.

In addition to addictions counselling and treatment, the new facility would house an after-care centre for people coming out of the 28-day treatment program.

"Asking people who want to get well to return to an environment that is unhealthy for them, really is not a recipe for success. They need safe accommodations, after-care resources and support to succeed and we will provide that for them,” said Pasloski.

The building comes alongside several other Yukon Party initiatives aimed at treating people with addictions in the territory.

The party is also committing to creating a community recovery clinic to ease the burden on emergency services at Whitehorse General Hospital and to extending further resources to youth-specific programming, citing the need for a "clear separation” between youth and adult addictions treatment.

To address this, the premier announced his party would offer support to local NGOs providing facility or community-based treatment to youth.

The party also pledges to continue the funding of land-based facilities in the Yukon for the predominantly First Nations people who may seek traditional addictions treatment methods.

"Land-based treatment is a quintessential part of this program to get First Nations governments involved,” said Horne.

"I attended residential school, so I am well aware of the residual effects that it has had on or individuals, so we must treat these among the communities as well. We have the KDFN (Kwanlin Dun First Nation) land-based treatment centre right now and would like to see the First Nations involved. Many First Nations have their own land-based treatment centres and these individuals can transition from the Sarah Steele to the First Nations.”

One of the more controversial aspects of the Yukon Party' s drug and alcohol programs has been its support for the creation of a secure assessment and treatment centre at the new Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

Both the Liberals and NDP have come out against the assessment centre, which they believe further criminalizes an issue all parties have referred to as a public health concern.

Today, Pasloski reaffirmed his party's commitment to the creation of the facility, stating a need for public security alongside addictions treatment.

"We want to create a new facility downtown for people who voluntarily want to detox and come in for treatment.

"We also must provide a secure area as well for people who are in custody, and we know that it doesn't work at the hospital; we've tried it at the RCMP and that didn't work either.

"So we have a secure facility that has trained medical professionals 24/7, that's why the decision was made to have the secure assessment for people who have to be a part of the new WCC.”

As the news conference concluded, the candidates voiced their own concerns about the ongoing crisis of addictions in the territory and their support of the Yukon Party's platform for addressing them.

"With the addictions, we see an increase in the rate of family violence also,” said Horne.

"We have the highest rates of violence against women, and all of this is caused by addictions and substance abuse and an ongoing scourge on our society, FASD ... these are self-defeating issues that we have to get over, and I am glad the premier shares this vision,” she said.

"I m so pleased that the Yukon Party is committed to enhancing the services for addictions,” said Nixon.

"I think we need to remember this isn't a Whitehorse issue, whether you are in downtown Whitehorse, Porter Creek South, Watson Lake, Faro ... the issue is prevalent everywhere.

"I am pleased that we are addressing it, and most people will be very happy that the Yukon Party is committed to addressing the issues as well.”