Thank you, Mr. Chairman. During the last few years that I have served, I have always looked at the Fort Providence nursing station as in pretty good shape. I couldn't justify whether or not the expenditure necessary for that building was really necessary. I want to tell the Members, it wasn't until we did a tour of the facility with some of the Executive Members, that I have come to realize that there are a great deal of deficiencies with regard to the nursing station itself. I am going to highlight some of them. One of them, is with regard to temperature control for medications and such. Some medications require the right kind of temperature to have the medicine stored.

The other situation is with regard to emergencies. If a person has an accident, most of the time there isn't the required emergency entrance and exit for people who get into an accident.

The other issue is with regard to the X-ray room. It should be downstairs. They have relocated it upstairs for emergency purposes, since anyone who breaks a leg or is unconscious has to be dragged downstairs into the basement in order for them to have their X-ray taken. The building isn't even designed for stretchers. We have a situation where you have to go down one stairway and turn the patient 180 degrees to go down the other way. The X-ray room, Mr. Chairman, is one of the rooms that was used for patients. It is not made to shield the radiation from the X-ray machine from the staff. So, every time an X-ray is required, the room is right next to the administration room and so the staff are required to get out of those rooms while the X-ray is being taken, in order to limit their exposure.

And, of course, the other thing, is with regard to the practicality for patients. Right now, we still have situations where most of the dental work and that sort of thing is done downstairs too. It is okay the way it is right now, but the building is not designed for wheelchairs. People that are in wheelchairs have to use the stairs and I don't know how they manage that. That's another situation. I think all the services should be provided on one level.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that the nurses in Fort Providence have their own residence in the community and there are a lot of empty spaces in that building. I want to say that the money allocated for the renovation and replacement of the nursing station in Fort Providence is justifiable but I didn't see it at that time. I appreciate the department having allocated that money.

It would have been built and maybe the capital allocation would have been made earlier, had I convinced the department to do so. But, I neglected to go to the nursing station to justify it. I wanted to apologize to the nurses in Fort Providence for my ignorance. I do support the allocation now, and I also want to say the problems are serious and the situation requires some pretty fast action to address the problems. Those are just my general comments. I don't require a response from the department. It is just to justify my own actions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just like to touch a little bit on Mr. Arngna'naaq's recommendation on the reinstatement in the capital plans for Iqaluit and Inuvik. I will make a general comment on the committee's recommendation that the departments of Health and Finance consult with the Auditor General on the agreement of $1 million, contributed annually by the federal government for the replacement of the Inuvik and Iqaluit hospitals, and specifically, whether it should be a deferred liability.

The department provided a pretty lengthy response and ended by saying that they recommended that the current approach of recording the revenue at the time it is received be maintained and that this is in accordance with current accounting practices. I am a little bit leery about this. I think the department may have missed the point of this recommendation, it is more than just accounting practices, I take it.

I think we would like to believe that this is a matter of the federal government living up to its fiduciary responsibility to aboriginal people, which we have been demanding. For example, we have demanded this in the health billings dispute. We have demanded this with the Heritage Canada. It is the federal government's responsibility to supply funds for language programs. If this is the fiduciary responsibility of the federal government, I don't feel that the GNWT should be interfering in the process.

I guess my question to the Minister would be, where is this money going that is coming in from the federal government? Is it put into general revenue? Are the funds being accumulated over the years for use in these regions? We are not clear on this. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is an agreement with the federal government, whereby they bring forward $1 million to us, through our funding from them, each year. The agreement was that the money would accrue towards replacement of the Inuvik and Baffin facilities. So, it comes into general revenue, although the agreement with the federal government does specify that $1 million is being provided for that particular issue in capital.

Perhaps, it hasn't been showing up over the last few years and accruing into the proper area, and that was because of the accounting treatment. I think that issue has been resolved. Mr. Chairman, what it actually means is that the federal government will pay a certain portion of the replacement of the Inuvik facility and the Baffin facility, and the Government of the Northwest Territories will have to supply the remainder. Whether it comes from the $1 million accruing, or whether we come up with all of our portion from somewhere else, it makes no difference.

Other than the fact that, ultimately, the federal government will pay a portion from which they will deduct the payments of $1 million a year from the time of signing. I guess if we don't build the facilities and use the money for something else, then ultimately, we'll end up having to pay 100 per cent of those particular facilities.

I think you'll find in the documents that are before you, Mr. Chairman, that we have made allowances now for the federal department's contributions and I think the issue has been dealt with. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have another question. The issue may come up sometime in the Keewatin, the way the plans are going. I would like to ask this question for the record. There was a recommendation from the Standing Committee on Finance that the departments of Health and Social Services conduct a feasibility study on the merits of integrating alcohol and drug facilities with health and hospital facilities. The response was that the departments of Health and Social Services have not yet conducted this feasibility study.

Now, it is now being proposed to undertake this study, as part of the strategic planning initiative, which Social Services is currently undertaking? Has the Department of Health given any consideration to this yet? What will the role of the Department of Health be, with regard to this issue in the strategic planning exercise?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Ms. Mike and myself have come to an arrangement, an agreement whereby in the Keewatin, there would be a pooling of resources to enable us to take care of the facility that is required for the Department of Health and at the same time, under the same roof, take care of a drug and alcohol treatment centre. We will incorporate that in the evaluations that are done both by Social Services and by Health. They will work closely together in the particular regard. A lead department has not yet been established, although I would perhaps be suggesting to the Minister of Social Services that Health take the lead in this area because square footage-wise, our requirements will be larger than that of Social Services.

The same thing, Mr. Chairman, applies in Inuvik, with the new facility that we're looking at there. I would say that both boards, the Inuvik board and the Keewatin board, have agreed that utilizing a multi-use facility, incorporating assets of the Department of Social Services and assets of the Department of Health, is by far the best way to go. I think there's agreement all the way around, Mr. Chairman, to move in that direction. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I would like to follow up the point of one of Mr. Gargan's comments about the design of health centres. We, Members of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services, had opportunities as we travelled across the north to tour facilities. There are various types, as you can imagine, different ages and different designs. The one in Fort Providence is probably most unique in terms of stairs -- winding stairs -- and ability to get in and out with patients on stretchers or wheelchairs. It's not only there, but in different places in the north. My question to the department officials and the Minister is with regard to designing new facilities -- and I see there are several that are coming up -- and of all the issues that Mr. Gargan raised and what we've heard from across the north, have they all been taken into consideration when designing these modern health centres?

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Gargan mentioned medication and temperature. There are some other considerations with medication, not only the temperature that it's stored at, but what kind of lighting conditions it might be kept in and, of course, the security. Some of those drugs could be very popular with people. That issue is being addressed across the Northwest Territories.

As far as the entrance and egress from those facilities, that is being taken care of. Another issue that Mr. Gargan mentioned was handicapped access. All of the facilities that we're either renovating or building new, will meet the code for handicapped access. Mr. Gargan mentioned having X-ray equipment on the same floor as the street level or having services available all on one floor. Certainly, there won't be anything built where there's X-ray equipment in the basement, Mr. Chairman. I would point out that in Providence, that equipment will be moved upstairs.

Mr. Gargan mentioned people having to leave the room when X-rays were taken. That's correct, because there's not enough X-ray security, shall we call it. In future, and particularly in Providence, the facilities will have lead-lined walls so that they meet the standards. My answer, in a rather long-winded fashion, Mr. Chairman, is that, yes, all of those issues will be taken care of as we renovate or build new across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. For the record, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the department and all the various Ministers who have been involved in this term, or since I've been here, in getting the funds recognized for the replacement of the Inuvik Hospital. I especially thank Mr. Pollard for identifying money that may not be all we need or it may be too much, I'm not sure, but a lot will depend on the needs analysis. I fully support the initiatives that are going on there.

A point I would like to make though is that there are still a lot of issues not totally clarified and hopefully the needs assessment will clarify some of these programs and types of services that will be provided. I fully support, not only in Health, but all departments, the multi-use of buildings. I supported the various motions made by the Standing Committee on Finance on these initiatives.

Again, for the record, I would like to make the department aware that a lot of the design and construction planning will have to tie in very closely with the work done by the Inuvik utilities planning commission because there may be a need to fast-track some money, depending on the date that they decide to cut off the high temperature hot water systems. Whether it's three or five years, we're not sure, but motions have been passed and comments made in the Standing Committee on Finance and, in this House, and I have made mention of that more than once. I want to make sure you are aware and that that takes place in the planning of the facility. Those were all the comments I wanted to make, Mr. Chairman. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It makes planning very difficult when you're not quite sure what clientele you're planning for. For example, we called Sir John Franklin school a territorial high school and it kept on expanding its mandate, so that eventually it was taking people from all over the Northwest Territories, from the Baffin, Keewatin, from every part of the Northwest Territories. For one reason or another, young people were going there to get their education. If, in the planning of a facility, you have various people who say that's the closest one but I don't want to go there, I want to go somewhere else, how do you resolve that issue? Is it on the basis of the kind of treatment that the people need? It could be that there are some places where a treatment is offered which is not offered somewhere else. Or, is the range of services going to be such that there is no real reason why people, for example, in the vicinity of the hospital in Inuvik shouldn't be required to go there? It was on that basis that the money was appropriated. It was on that basis that everybody agreed that was a good use of funds and that the range of services there was, in fact, the range of services that people had asked for. How do you resolve that issue of what clientele you plan for when you build a capital facility?

Mr. Chairman, that is a dilemma I know you faced when you were in this particular portfolio. The only way I see to resolve it, and perhaps the petition that came to the House today is somewhat timely, is establishing, before we go into the construction, exactly the catchment area and the kinds of things that we will be doing at that particular facility. Resolving this issue of Sahtu, whether they go north to Inuvik or come south to Yellowknife is uppermost in my mind at the present time, in order that we can then, having made that decision, clearly and concisely explain to the people who are residual, the people who are left in the catchment area, that this is the kind of facility that is there at the present time, and here are the services that it is providing.

Hopefully, by looking at some of the medical records around there, we can tell the kinds of treatment that are required fairly regularly and how often those kinds of things occur. That does change slightly across the Northwest Territories, Mr. Chairman. And then, allow the needs assessment to eventually dictate to us what the requirements will be. From that, we will turn it into an asset.

If it is several hundred people here or there, plus or minus, then I don't think it will make a great deal of difference. With the Sahtu, we have to resolve that issue before getting involved. I think we are very close to doing that, at the present time. I talked to the deputy mayor of Inuvik last week and there seems to be a recognition that this particular area of the Northwest Territories feels that they are sort of half-way between Yellowknife and Inuvik, that some of them are sent to Inuvik and eventually have to come to Yellowknife anyway. They are saying, we would like to come to Yellowknife. There is an acceptance, I think, in the Inuvik area, of that particular desire of the Sahtu. If we can resolve that in the next six or eight weeks, Mr. Chairman, then we will be well on our way to being able to do what Mr. Lewis described, which is to say, here are the number of people. This is the kind of treatment we want to deliver. This is the kind of facility that will last us for the next 30 or 40 years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Just one more thing, Mr. Chairman. The Minister has indicated that if it is just 200 or 300 people, that is not a big problem, but what does that answer really mean? Does that mean that those 300 people who don't want to go to Inuvik, will end up being allowed to go somewhere else? Or, does it mean that they are such a significant minority, that they are going to have to go to Inuvik anyway, because that is the general will within that region, that that is the hospital that should be used both for the Beaufort and also for people from the Sahtu?

Mr. Chairman, when I said 100 or 200 people here or there, I didn't mean that I would allow a group of individuals in the catchment area to say, we want to get treatment elsewhere. What I meant is that, when we are determining the whole size of the catchment area, if we are within 100 or 200 people, then that won't make much difference on the size of the facility that we have to build. I didn't mean that they wouldn't have to go to that particular facility. I am just saying that, when we are assessing the situation, it doesn't have to be down to the last person.

I would point out that we would take into consideration what the growth rate is going to be in a particular area, what we are forecasting, simply because we have noticed over the years -- and Mr. Lewis would be familiar with this in schools -- that if we don't forecast accurately within a short space of time, we are making an addition or making some major renovations. I think that we would want to have a minimum level of space upon which we could grow, in an orderly fashion, if the population increases the way that it is forecasted to do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.