Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make a statement on the report of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I have no real problem with the basic recommendations in the report, but I would like to tell the Members and the public about the amalgamation, integration or incorporation of our culture into the Euro-Canadian culture and not to deal with the aboriginal culture in isolation.

Mr. Speaker, the Dene and the Euro-Canadians have very different ways of dealing with the world around them. The report does not go far enough. The majority of all problems in the communities can be attributed to the feelings of alienation and assimilation of our young people into the Euro-Canadian way of life. If a person does not know where they are from or if they have a poor sense of their own cultural identity, Mr. Speaker, it is hard for them to get anywhere with their lives.

I also believe that some of the recommendations are based on hearsay, as opposed to the cold, hard facts. The report states that the older generation of Dene have little impact on the Euro-Canadians and that those members of our community over 75 years of age live a very traditional life. If this is the case, Mr. Speaker, why do many of the seniors drink heavily? I think the reasons many of our seniors drink is because we have taken away their traditional place in Dene culture as the teachers and have replaced them with Euro-Canadian institutions to teach our children.

Mr. Speaker, aboriginal people must live, with the effect of the attempts of Euro-Canadians to assimilate us, to turn us, as a people, into carbon copies of the white ideals.

Mr. Speaker, the final report does not address the root of the problems. Until we have all recovered pride as a people, we will not be able to stand tall, to have a sense of self-worth that translates into action. The report needs to take a holistic approach to the problems we have in the territories, and it fails to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I have been requested to not take too much of the Assembly's time on this issue. Therefore, this will be the last comments I make on the Special Committee on Health and Social Services report in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.