Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm sure the Minister of Finance has noted that this issue and related issues have been a subject of concern expressed by Members during this session of the Assembly. I would just like to say, Mr. Chairman, that I am pleased to hear his undertaking to review the wages and benefits of workers in elders' facilities. I have to note that there are other non-profit agency employees who are in the same situation as well. I'm sure Mr. Koe didn't intend to exclude them. We have talked, at length, about alcohol and drug workers. I'd now like to raise the questions of the wages and benefits for shelter workers. I don't know that that category of people has been specifically addressed in the House.
Mr. Chairman, compared to having the Government of Northwest Territories offer these vital services in-house with public service employees, delivery by non-profit agencies represents a much more modest cost. I also believe it's often a very much more effective program because it's usually community-controlled and therefore, very appropriate to the area served. I do submit, and I hate to sound like somebody who's always whining that more money be spent because I'm aware of the restraint pressures on our government, but if we keep squeezing these non-profit agencies and expecting them to deliver vital services instead of the government, without offering even inflationary increases, then I fear that the government itself will end up being forced to run these facilities at much greater cost and I would submit, without the same kind of local sensitivity that you find with the dedicated people who are running these facilities in the non-profit agencies.
I want to note, for the record, that there are other categories of workers, and I will specify the shelter workers, who are in need and should be included in this review that the Finance Minister has committed to. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance, would he commit to broadening the review to include other non-profit agency employees delivering services in the social area? Thank you.