Mr. Chairman, could the Member repeat the question?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is a question I do not have a definite answer for. The issue of Metis health care is still unresolved. The answer to that question is attached to resolving that Metis health care issue. I cannot give a definite time.

The current status of this is that nationally the Metis are attempting to obtain a certain amount of recognition by the federal government, to place them on par with status Indians and Inuit people when it comes to certain benefits. I think it is something that is being worked on at the federal level, and territorially, of course, the request for full recognition of Metis health benefits is an issue that has yet to be resolved. We are attempting to address certain issues before we can make any decisions. One of them is financial; how will we pay for additional health costs associated with providing medical treatment at the same level as status Indian and Inuit people? I do not think we have resolved a number of issues, including a definition of "NWT Metis." Those issues are still being worked on with the Metis Nation and ourselves.

As I explained, there are a number of factors that have to be determined, and certainly one is on a federal level, that the federal government recognize Metis as a distinct group and put them in the same category as status Indians and Inuit people, and they would ultimately become responsible for the services that both other groups currently enjoy. I think the federal government is reluctant to do this. I am not sure of all their reasons, but it is something we are keeping close watch on.

I wish it were a simple answer that I could resolve by saying, "Yes, we will provide that." I think it has gone before previous governments, and the decision was just as difficult then as it is now. We are working with the Metis Nation to identify the numbers of people involved in a decision like this, in order to see what the costs will be. That is one of the problems. From a more political standpoint, if we do something in the NWT here and eventually the federal government does recognize Metis people in the same sense they do status Indians and Inuit, and here already we are providing, from our internal resources, health care and other benefits, there is no guarantee they are going to say they are going to take over those responsibilities and free the territorial government from those financial responsibilities.

So I guess we are keeping close watch on what is taking place so that we can make a decision at the appropriate time. As far as the time is concerned, Mr. Chairman, it is not an issue that we have swept under the carpet. It is something that still needs to be resolved from a number of areas. I hope that we will see some resolve to this issue, but as far as a time, I cannot give a time on it. I would like to assure the Member that it is something that we are working on.

It is at the stage where the Department of Health has been talking to the Metis Nation. We have several options to look at, everything from saying "Yes" right now to just bearing the consequences by saying "No" and leaving it as it is. I do not want to say "No." I cannot say "Yes." So, I think what I am saying is that until we know what the cost implications are going to be down the road, I do not think it would be very prudent for the department to take on that responsibility. If it is a federal responsibility, as I have heard suggested, then the federal government must take on that financial responsibility and provide for Metis people through our department or whatever funding arrangements that can be made. Right now, to say "Yes" would lock this government into spending money that we do not have appropriated for that category. That is where it is, currently. We are working with the Metis Nation to come up with a definition of Metis to determine what numbers there are to equate to costs.