Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that Members of the committee weren't trying to limit or to set out exactly who should do what. We want to see the opportunities for increased training to be provided to staff and other workers, as much as possible. That is why we have suggested that it not be just in-house training, but we also talk about conferences, workshops, distance learning, in-service training by visiting specialists and so on. That could include work by Arctic College, it could include a wide variety of means.

What we have asked is, by next fall, the government present a report to the Legislature, detailing what steps they have taken in this regard. That would then give us a chance to assess how successful they have been, what areas they have moved in and what their approach is to getting the job done. The important aspect, Mr. Chairman, is to ensure that the people who are doing these important jobs -- as Mr. Gargan has pointed out, they're often dealing with people who have problems or who are in crisis -- get as much training as possible so they have the best ability to do their jobs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I totally agree with the motion in front of us and I will be supporting this particular motion. But one of the comments I wanted to make is with regard to the preamble to this motion. In it, there is a lot of emphasis placed on front line workers. I agree that training is of benefit to them, particularly in the smaller communities. In the Special Committee on Health and Social Services report, they indicated that communities were having problems with specialists not going to communities quite as often as they should.

This is not reflected in any of their recommendations. It is good, on the one hand, to say that if the front line workers get all this training, it is going to reduce the reliance on specialists who visit communities. To a certain degree, I guess that is true. But, on the other hand, I'm aware through reading this report, that the communities outside of Yellowknife and outside other regional centres are complaining that the specialists are not coming in as often as they should be to do follow-up work. I'm wondering why there isn't another recommendation pertaining to that in this report?

But, in relation to the motion on the floor, Mr. Chairman, I will be supporting it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In response to Mr. Zoe's concern, this is something the committee addressed. If you look ahead at the section where recommendations are showing up in numbers, under the Delivery of Health and Social Services, where we say this is what we recommend regarding the delivery of health and social services, you'll find in there that we do recommend that the specialist assignment visitation schedule also needs to be reviewed. Very early in the report we said that not all of our recommendations were included in the numbered recommendations. We did say that, of the more than 70 recommendations -- if you wanted to add them all up -- only 32 have been separated out into numbered ones. It doesn't mean that we don't feel the government should pay attention to the recommendations that are included in the narrative section of our report. I think that, as Members, we will be following up with the government to ensure they do recognize our concern that all areas where we make recommendations must be followed up on.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Employee assistance plans (EAP) are one way to help workers cope with the pressures of their jobs. The Government of the Northwest Territories has often been asked to establish an EAP for its own staff. Our survey of front line workers suggests that the need for such a program is especially great among health and social services employees.

Mr. Chairman, we heard a lot about burnout among our health and social service front line workers. I would just like to distribute, to the Members of the committee, a letter we received recently from a doctor in a small community who is married to a social worker. After seeing a copy of our front line workers survey, he wrote to tell us that he completely agreed with our recommendation. If I could, Mr. Chairman, I will ask the Pages to hand a copy of this around. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I understand it right now, there is not an employee assistance program in existence for GNWT employees. As far as I understand, GNWT employees can qualify, for instance, for treatment if they're referred for treatment, but there is no sort of standard employee assistance program. This would be something that is new. The committee was of the opinion that, in particular, because of the stresses placed on some of the front line workers, that this is particularly critical because we often heard communities complain about turnover due to staff being burned out from stress. If you look at the letter the committee received from Dr. Wezelman, he outlines exactly the sorts of problems that social workers face, which are not necessarily the same as other employees. In answer to Mr. Gargan, yes, this would be a new program.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think given the amount of the turnover costs to this government, in terms of having to replace and train new people, that this is an area that we have to look at. In the long run, instituting such a program could probably decrease the costs to this government.

I think it was an area in which we saw a requirement and are, therefore, making the recommendation that it is one the government should examine. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.