Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions spent considerable time examining the question of whether health and hospital boards should be elected or appointed.

The standing committee recognizes that there are a number of advantages associated with the election of health and hospital boards. Responsiveness to community interests is facilitated by the fact that elected board trustees may see themselves as accountable to the voters rather than to the Minister. Further, the visibility that boards members achieve through the electoral process increases their public profile and, as a result, may make it easier for the community to identify them as prospective sources of information or advocacy during times of need.

At the same time, it must be recognized that there are also disadvantages to the election of health and hospital boards. For instance, it may be difficult in some regions to structure an electoral process which results in adequate representation of all of the various ethnic or socio-economic groups in a community. Within a system where boards are appointed, it is possible to target certain types of expertise among prospective trustees, while this is less controllable when members are elected. Frequently, as well, concern is raised about the prospects of "special issue candidates" mustering bursts of support from public interest organizations and monopolizing board membership to achieve their limited advocacy goals.

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions noted that there was little or no support for the election of trustees among the board representatives who participated in the review. However, the committee is also aware that there has been recent interest expressed in some communities with respect to the election of trustees to health centre boards.

At the present time, the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions is not prepared to make specific recommendations on this matter. However, the committee agrees that this is an issue that should be further studied by the Department of Health, and that a discussion paper should be prepared for consideration by the Legislative Assembly and health stakeholders.

Creation Of Representative Bodies To Replace Mackenzie Regional Health Services

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions took special note to the fact that a large section of the population within the Northwest Territories remains unrepresented by any health or hospital board. Presently, health facilities and programs serving Deh Cho and Dogrib communities are managed by a public administrator through the Mackenzie regional health services -- an administrative arm of the Department of Health.

The standing committee is aware that there are strong feelings on this issue, and a sense that pre-transfer commitments for community control of health services have not been honoured. Although there have been repeated assurances that the decentralization of health services to regional or community authority is under consideration, there has remained no real progress in this regard over the four years since transfer.

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions is dismayed and concerned that this matter remains unresolved. Notwithstanding efforts made during five successive ministerial administrations, the departmental bureaucracy remains more entrenched in the "Mackenzie region" than ever before.

Members of the standing committee are of the opinion that some change must take place in this respect. The current colonial-style system needs to be replaced by structures which allow the people of this large region to take responsibility for this important area of community living.

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions does not wish to make a specific recommendation on this matter at the present time. The focus of the current review is on existing health and hospital boards, rather than on identifying a framework for the regions in which community participation in health service delivery is absent.

However, the standing committee is hopeful that its comments will be noted by Cabinet and by the Special Committee on Health and Social Services as a perspective which must be dealt with in the very near future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.