Mr. Chairman, I, too, agree with the intent and principle of the recommendation. I am trying to figure out, like Mr. Lewis, the effectiveness of a 1-800 number for the elders. I happen to know some people who work as volunteers on the help line. They are very seldom called. Yet, there was a suicide committed in Hall Beach not too long ago. Why did that person not call?
My point here, Mr. Chairman, is that if the recommendation goes through, there will have to be a clear, specific, step-by-step method of instruction -- maybe a pamphlet will have to be issued to the elders -- of calling the number. And, if the 1-800 number is set up in Yellowknife as usual, and a unilingual Inuktitut elder calls from Grise Fiord or Sanikiluaq, the government contact person will not be able to speak all eight languages. It is not practical. They will probably have to use English as the working language and maybe Slavey, Gwich'in or Inuktitut. But somebody will not be able to communicate if the person answering is unilingual.
I would like the chairman of the standing committee to explain what is planned here. The government should not come up with a 1-800 number and a formal procedure to use it, if it doesn't work for the majority of elders. My question about the motion is, what are the plans to make the 1-800 number practical and workable so the elders who need this kind of assistance can have confidence in calling it?