Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe Mr. Arvaluk's question had to do with how we would deal with language problems on a 1-800 number. The Official Languages Act requires that the government provides service in any official language where there is sufficient demand. So if there was demand for the languages then that would have to be provided. The government may choose to, for instance, set this up on a regional basis so that it could be done easily in languages of the regions. We haven't said exactly how the system should be set up, but we are aware that there's a seniors society which is trying to set up on a regional basis. So, hopefully, there will be a group of elders in every region which we are hoping would then be called on by the government to provide advice. They could certainly help the government with how to set this sort of program up.

Really, Mr. Chairman, this recommendation comes from hearing from elders all across the north. Not only did they not know where to get help, but when they went to ask somebody about how to deal with a problem, even that person often couldn't find out. For instance, if they had a home care worker coming in and they wanted to get some assistance on finding out how to take advantage of the fuel subsidy, that information wasn't readily available even to the home care worker to pass on to the elder.

We're hoping, with this kind of system set up, that people will be able to take advantage of one-stop shopping when it comes to advice on where seniors should go for assistance in the system. That's really the goal. In terms of the languages, that's something that will have to be dealt with, pursuant to the Official Languages Act, which does require services to be provided in all the official languages, where demand is sufficient.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No, we did not consult specifically with the languages commissioner. As I said, the requirements of the legislation are pretty clear and there is no choice involved. If there is sufficient demand, services must be provided in all of the official languages, or any of the official languages.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is no doubt. I think I mentioned in my answer to Mr. Arvaluk that we are aware of an elders' group which is trying to set up operations on a regional basis in the Northwest Territories. They could perhaps be called upon to assist with this sort of program. It could certainly be considered on a regional basis. This recommendation is not saying it's limited to only one location. We are saying that there should be at least that one. If there are more, that's fine. Part of the problem we found was not just with elders not being able to get the information, but even people who were helping to care for them often couldn't find out specific information about programs which were designed to assist elders.

We're saying that we need to have one person, at least one person, who can answer all of the questions that might come up. For instance, when we were in three or four of the regions, we ran into people who were unable to find out through the Social Service office how to get in touch with somebody to deal with problems they were having with Canada Pension. Even the social workers in the community didn't have all the answers. We want to make sure that there is a number that an elder can call to talk to a social service worker and the social service worker has a source for information. We found that too often the information just wasn't available to anybody in the community, let alone to the elder. I think that it's important that we recognize that. That's what we're hoping will be addressed with this. I think that you'll find that we would welcome having things set up on a more regional basis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The recommendation arises out of, again, what the committee's activities are. The committee's activities were to look at health and social services and, in examining the concerns of elders -- which was one of the groups that we specifically looked at -- we clearly heard, across the Northwest Territories, that many elders found the system inaccessible and cumbersome. I recognize the concern that some people may not be able to talk all of the languages. I don't think, as Mr. Allooloo has said, that anybody can speak all eight languages. We felt that this was one way of making sure that we could communicate to elders and let them know that this service was available. The service would obviously have to be set up so that there was somebody closely available that could interpret, if necessary, for the person who was providing the advice. I think that sort of ability is possible and I think it is one way to get things started. If we don't deal with the problem in some direct fashion, the problem isn't going to go away. Too often we heard that elders don't know about what programs are available for them. The people who are helping them, the people who provide service to them, often don't know about the programs. We need to have someone in government who can explain government programs -- which are the same across the Northwest Territories -- to people who are out in the field. That means more than just the elders, that means the people who are

providing the services. I do think the system could be set up so that there was an interpreter available to deal with questions and have, perhaps, one person start with the service. My concern is that if we try and say that the government has to develop a big bureaucracy at this point in time, we are liable to get into the argument that there isn't enough money to start it right now and that would be the excuse for it never to appear. I think the committee was trying to present as economic a solution as possible and see how it works. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.