Mr. Speaker, as you know, we have a freeze on all new hires. Any requests for new positions to be advertised have to come to me for rationalization. Whether or not that recommendation has been put forward in the Strength at Two Levels report, it is a very badly needed position because the whole medical travel issue has been an ongoing and troubling situation for us. We have to come to some end as to how it is to be handled. It does not matter whether it is in Baffin, Keewatin, Kitikmeot or the Inuvik Regions, the travel policy that we have is being interpreted in different ways whether it is for the patient or for the escort. We really have to do something about that. I felt it was very necessary to begin to rationalize how we are using the medical travel responsibility.

It is skyrocketing. We have all kinds of policies, and I feel that rather than making an overall judgment on who is doing what in various regions, we should decide on how to better deal with the escalating costs of medical travel.

I believe you said "centralized" I think that by using that word it may determine that we are trying to centralize medical travel for any purpose. But the whole idea is to look at travel, the medical travel, the travelling of escorts and how we are using it. The idea is to find out how and what is being abused. At the same time, while there are many accusations out there as well as reports from different people, we have to be fair to people by taking a very aggressive stand on how medical travel is being used. It is an overall problem that we have, whether people go to Churchill or Winnipeg, whether they come here from Kitikmeot or go to Edmonton -- these are the problems we are having which need to be addressed.

We have had many questions raised about people going out just for one visit for five minutes; going, coming back and being referred out again for a visit that was not necessary. These are the types of things we are trying to address with that position. It is an overall position to look at how medical travel is being used, not necessarily trying to look at redirecting traffic at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister now agree to delay all hiring activities related to the manager of medical travel position until the consultation process on the Beatty report has been completed?

Thank you, Member for Baffin Central. Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, definitely not.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Item 5, oral questions. Member for Keewatin Central.

I do not want to make Mr. Morin feel he is alone over there, so I thought I would ask him a question. It has been brought to my attention that the government is reassessing its policy for renewing leases on offices and houses in level I and level II communities. The renewal of these leases in these communities is on a one to three-year basis. Can the Minister inform me if the current policy is that, or have there been some changes?

Member for Tu Nedhe.

Supplementary, Member for Keewatin Central.

It is my understanding that the government is not putting a policy in place since it is trying to get out of staff housing and is planning to turn this responsibility over to either the individuals or groups that may be interested in purchasing staff housing. However, the problem lies in the benefit of long-term leases for at least 10 years. If this policy is put in place, it will be impossible for any financing of the staff housing turnover if they are not long-term leases. Would the Minister give his commitment to revisit this policy and ensure that some consideration is given to long-term leasing so that we can finance these things?

Thank you, Member for Keewatin Central. Member for Tu Nedhe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we will be looking at the policies. We will consider the financing that people need to build staff housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe. Item 5, oral questions. Member for North Slave.

Thank you, Member for North Slave. Member for Hay River.

Mr. Speaker, I meant what I said in the statement. We will honour our commitments. Mr. Speaker, if I may say, without criticizing too much, perhaps previous governments made too many promises to the communities, and now that we are getting short of money it is difficult to fulfill those promises. I assure the Member that we will honour the commitments that have been made to communities in previous budgets. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Hay River. Item 5, oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Housing. My question is with regard to the board of directors. I would like to ask the Minister what the department's cost is with regard to the operations of the board of directors of the Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Member for Tu Nedhe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The direct cost of the NWT Housing Corporation Board of Directors is approximately $300,000. The indirect cost is approximately another $300,000. Because it is a board of directors and is not really tied into this government, they are responsible for paying goods and services taxes on their supplies and materials. That cost is $775,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on the question by my colleague for Deh Cho to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. First of all, could he explain to this House what he means by direct and indirect costs?

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Member for Tu Nedhe.