Saskatchewan’s Yellow Quill First Nation, which made headlines earlier this year when two little girls froze to death, is moving ahead with plans for an addictions treatment centre.

Health Canada is putting up $120,000 to plan a facility for the reserve, which is located about 260 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

Alcohol was thought to be a factor in January when two sisters, one 16 months old and the other three years old, were left in the snow in -40 C. weather. Their father has been charged in the deaths.

In the aftermath, residents said alcohol has been a problem on the reserve for a long time. Yellow Quill Chief Robert Whitehead said there are many needs in his community and he hopes a treatment centre can help with some of them.

“We’ve been displaced in many areas including our traditional way of life and we are being expected to basically move over to the modern way of life,” he said. “We are ill-prepared for all that stuff.”

Yellow Quill and its neighbouring Saulteaux First Nations will use the money to begin planning for a holistic, and “culturally specific” treatment centre.

Although Whitehead is relieved help may be on the way, he’s saddened that it took two senseless deaths to make it happen.

“A lot of this stuff should have been dealt with over the years rather than having to wait until the number of tragedies that we’ve had on reserves,” he said.

While the federal money is a start, the idea of a Saulteaux treatment centre is a long way from becoming a reality. Once the plan is complete, Yellow Quill and its neighbours will have to convince governments to help pay, officials on the reserve said.