Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a few comments with regard to Social Services. It seems that this particular department appears to be struggling to manage its programs and services, next to the Department of Health. There are a number of serious issues that the department has to deal with, issues including: drug and alcohol programs, especially the funding component of it; social assistance with regard to food and clothing rates and the whole structure of rates; the issue of elders' assistance in terms of funding for elders, particularly in the area of wood fuel subsidy; and, the issue of youth initiatives with regard to the funding.

I have heard the deputy minister indicate that the youth initiative funding has been given out in the previous year. I would like to get the breakdown of that if it is possible, Mr. Chairman. Also, regarding the issue of child welfare, it is an area that my colleague on my right has always commented on in the House, especially on custom adoption. Mr. Chairman, I would like to comment on those issues to bring them to the attention of the Minister.

A number of my colleagues on this side of the House have raised certain issues pertaining to drug and alcohol programs. I have noticed the need for increased funding for drug and alcohol programs. I understand, Mr. Chairman, that the department hosts an annual territorial drug and alcohol conference. I understand this particular group has been meeting downstairs for the last couple of days. This particular group, Mr. Chairman, makes recommendations to the department to take into consideration for the following year. I have asked our researchers to analyze all the recommendations which have been made by these conferences and submitted to the department. In going through the recommendations which go to the department on a yearly basis, I have noted a number of them are repetitive, year after year. I am starting to wonder what the purpose of hosting these conferences is when the department is not acting on the recommendations which are put forward by the groups. The groups are the front line workers at the community level, of all the people, they are the ones who should be listened to. That is why the department brings them all together into a community and holds a conference to discuss the problems they are all encountering, their funding their training, et cetera.

I do not have the documents in front of me. I have given them to the researchers to analyze them so I can question the Minister, possibly tomorrow. When I went through those recommendations, Mr. Chairman, I noticed that every year some of the recommendations are the same. I am starting to wonder why we spend money to bring in these people, when the department is not adhering to the recommendations of that particular group. What is the department doing with those particular recommendations? Are they put on the shelves and forgotten about? I do not know. I would like to have those types of questions answered.

With regard to drug and alcohol services, Mr. Chairman, the staff of Social Services who deal with drugs and alcohol are not reaching out far enough at the community level. They cannot, or they are not, meeting with the community leaders on a regular basis. They are not assisting interested groups that want to get into these programs. They are not assisting them in a manner so they can undertake various projects pertaining to drugs and alcohol. I know that some of them do make efforts, but in most cases I would suspect the programs and services which are available through the department are not being conveyed at the community level as it should be. I have a concern with this particular area.

Mr. Chairman, with regard to social assistance for clients who are less fortunate than others within our society, it is our job, or the job of our government, to provide a safety net for these people. Within this particular safety net which we are supposed to be providing, there are many holes.

Since the honourable Member for Baffin Central is new to this ministry, I would like to refer her to a motion which was passed on November 1, 1990, with respect to social assistance rates. In that particular motion, Mr. Chairman, it called for a one time increase which the Minister adhered to in the following year. It also called for an increase in the clothing allowance of 100 per cent. That was in 1990, Mr. Chairman. To date, the clothing allowance has not been increased since 1985. Nothing has been increased. Within this particular motion it was also requested that a food basket survey be carried out. To my knowledge, this has not been done. Mr. Chairman, we also suggested to the Minister of the day that the Minister should index the social assistance rates to the cost of living and adjust those rates every two years. We also suggested to the Minister of the day that these recommendations should be implemented into the departmental plans. Mr. Chairman, if this motion was adhered to by the government in 1991, then Members on this side of the House would not be questioning the government for increases in clothing allowance and the food basket rates. In 1990-91 we were not in a restraint period, but today we are. If the department had taken this motion into account, we would not be in the state we are in because the cost of living would have been indexed to the social assistance rates.

I wanted to make the Minister of the day aware and, perhaps she should review the ten pages of the debate surrounding this particular motion I am referring to. It is motion 19-90(2) on November 1, 1990. All of the comments from the debate are still relevant today, Mr. Chairman. I do not want to repeat them in my general comments. I want the new Minister to take a look at what was said in 1990 pertaining to the social assistance rates.

With regard to elders' assistance, Mr. Chairman, I am not sure if this department actually funds elders groups. I know that in my particular riding we have an elders group which is very active in one of my communities. I know they want to do more. They need assistance. This is the department which I believe should be assisting this type of group. I want to raise the issue which I raised in my Member's statement last week or the week before, the assistance which we are giving our elders today in my view is not really fair. Some of our elders are living in substandard units. Many of the elders in my constituency are complaining. They are saying, elder "A", who is living in a modern unit gets five cords of wood or equivalent fuel, that is sufficient for that particular unit, but elder "B" who is living in a substandard unit with poor insulation, although he gets five cords of wood like elder "A", he burns more just to keep the house heated properly. There is an imbalance within our system now. I think the department has to seriously look at that particular problem.

With regard to youth initiatives, Mr. Chairman, I indicated earlier that I want a breakdown as to what the department is anticipating to do in this area. Again, the youth in my area are very active, particularly in Rae-Edzo. They are getting involved at the community level more and more. They also meet with the elder council I made reference to.

To date, Mr. Chairman, those issues are not resolved yet. If the government in 1990, would have taken our motion seriously, we would not be in the state we are right now for the clients of Social Services. I have many concerns. Most of my constituents who are complaining to my office are the clients of Social Services, more than 50 per cent. I just wanted to make those brief, general comments at this time, Mr. Chairman. Mahsi.

I want a rebuttal to the Minister's comments, Mr. Chairman. I understand what the Minister is trying to say, but the department is aware of these particular issues, these issues are not new. The department is well aware of all of these problems, but nothing has been done to date of significance that I can think of. How much longer is it going to take the department to get its act together to provide adequate programs and services to the people of the territories?

For instance, these rates that I am making reference to, Mr. Chairman, were debated in the House. The department is aware of it. I realize they gave us a five per cent increase in the food rates in October, but that is not good enough. What about the clothing allowance? What about the other issues? The clothing allowance, Mr. Chairman, has not been increased since 1985. Why is the department not addressing that? It is getting to the point where the department is not managing their affairs properly. They are in crisis management, in my view. The department is reacting to certain issues that they do not have time to do proper planning on, et cetera. That is a problem. The same Minister said the same thing to me in 1990, when we were debating this. It is getting to the point where I am getting frustrated, not only with this department, but with other departments. Mr. Chairman, somebody has to shake the department up and I hope you can do it. That is the point I am trying to make, Mr. Chairman, that this work has to be done and it has to be done effectively, efficiently and economically. We cannot wait.

If the decision of the last government took into consideration the motion which I made reference to, we would not be in this situation because the social assistance rates would have been indexed to the cost of living and increased every two years. The Minister of the day did not agree with that. That is why we are still in a dilemma today. That is why people like yourself, Mr. Chairman, have been raising the issue. My colleagues for Deh Cho, Nahendeh and everyone else have been raising those issues. Why can we not get this particular issue dealt with? It is getting to the point where it is dragging on and on. We are always in a catch-up situation, particularly for the less fortunate people who are on social assistance. I think my colleague for Thebacha made reference to the fact that the amount of food we currently provide is only about 60 per cent of what we should actually be giving them. We should be giving them 100 per cent, but it is equivalent to 60 per cent. So, again, we are in a catch-up situation, even with the five per cent which the Minister implemented this past year. All I am suggesting to the Minister is that this department has to straighten out and start proper planning, rather than a crisis management plan, so we can get the work done once and for all. Mahsi.

Mr. Chairman, it is the Minister's responsibility to provide these types of programs and services to the people of the territories. If she is not willing to do that, then I do not know why she is here.