Could the Minister then clarify for me if the federal government had been responsible for this situation, would they have, in fact, been responsible for picking up this cost for status Inuit? Would they, in fact, be responsible?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Well, Mr. Chairman, the federal government is actively trying to reduce their program, and they are doing it through several devices. In provinces, they are using Blue Cross, and Blue Cross is the bad guy who tells the patient sorry, you are only covered for this much. In the Northwest Territories, we are the bad guy that is delivering the program that has to tell, in this case the health board and their contractor, that we do not have the money to pay, because we are not getting it from the feds. I think they are trying to avoid the direct delivery that occurred in the past, and perhaps we have played into their hands. Thank you.

Thank you. Department of Health. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you. Well, I think that what I wanted to get at, was, under normal circumstances, the federal government would have been responsible for picking up the costs. The additional costs that people talk about are not costs that are above and beyond what was, in fact, would have been an historical cause. It is above and beyond what is now the cost; what is now the cost to this government, is that correct? It is our cost now that is increasing, and, in fact, it is the federal government's costs that are decreasing in this particular case.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, aspects of the present contract are described by the federal government as above and beyond what the federal government will pay, even though when the federal government ran a different program. A Winnipeg based dental service in the Keewatin, was spending the same level of money, but they are saying now that we have a northern model, they are saying there are many aspects of that model that are above and beyond what they are willing to pay.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Chairman, all I wanted to say on that point, and again it is not in my constituency, but I do say this to the Minister, and I guess through him, to his officials. I think that there has to be a time when we refuse to accept the federal argument. There has to be a time, and I hope that our officials, when they are at the negotiating table, take some strong positions on this particular matter, because I know in the end, we may be in for a longer fight, and that is all part of the strategy we are going to deal with, in terms of dealing with this situation, but I do not think it is necessary to develop a strategy to say to the government, "We are not going to take any more of this off-loading stuff". We cannot simply suggest to the Government of Canada that this is going to be an acceptable manner in which they treat the Government of the Northwest Territories, or for that matter, officials who are negotiating on our behalf. That is not acceptable. It should not be acceptable by government, it should not be acceptable by the Assembly, and I doubt very much that other people would accept that this is the way we should accept off-loading from the Government of Canada. I think the circumstances, for instance, Mr. Chairman, in Manitoba, that was under the leadership of Phil Fontaine, all the status Indians sent their bills not to the Blue Cross, but actually to the Department of Health or to the Department of Indian Affairs.

It is interesting to note, Mr. Chairman, that in the Yukon, there is a bureaucracy still in place to deal with this issue, and what surprises me, is that there is no request for reduction of services there. In fact they have accepted the fact that until the transfer decision is made, and that is ongoing right now, they are in fact, responsible agents on behalf of status Indians, and I make that mention because I think we accept it, that we will be responsible, we would deliver services better, but we cannot accept the responsibility of the federal government in this area, and I do not think that we should do it. I just wanted to make that comment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Page 14-11, supplementary health programs. Total O and M $15.287 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Over the page. Territorial hospital insurance services. Total O and M $120.296 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Medical care plan. Total O and M $19.193 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Page 14-14, medical travel, total O and M $21,355 million. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. Details of grants and contributions, contributions $88.730 million.

Agreed.

Information item, territorial hospital insurance services.

Agreed.

Continuation on page 14-18, territorial hospital insurance services information item. Are there any questions on this item?

Agreed.

Thank you. Detail of work performed on behalf of third parties, nil. Agreed.