Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been listening, with interest, to the response the Premier made regarding the "whys" of the alcohol problems, suicide problems, deaths which are occurring and also the contributing factors. I wonder whether the department itself has relied on professional people such as psychologists to tell you exactly "why" these problems are happening. I am sure one of the things is the way you live. We are caught up in this whole Euro-Canadian style of living. You have a house, a car and you are educated. That is great, maybe for a white person, but what about the aboriginal person? What is missing in an aboriginal person that makes him do what he is doing now, because that is where the concentration should be.

We do not see a high suicide rate or many alcohol problems among non-native people however, it is certainly evident. Why is it? It is because of security. White people are secure by the way they live and it is their style and culture. However, for aboriginal people, there is something missing. I do not know whether this department has ever addressed that issue. It is good to have programs and services, but it goes beyond that and we are not addressing it.

In Fort Good Hope, for example, within about two and a half weeks there were approximately about five attempted suicides. Why are those children attempting to take their life away? There is something missing in aboriginal people that, perhaps, everyone else has that reassures them of their survival.

With regard to the Premier's statement on the false sense of security, I certainly feel that false sense of security if we are looking at it from an aboriginal point of view. Psychologists will tell you there are two different cultures. Make no mistake about it. Those are the experts who you should be relying on to tell you why those things are happening, and address it. Part of it is not because they do not have a big house or because they do not have a car in the driveway, or that they have a grade 12 diploma, that is not it, it is that we are not encouraging them to start valuing their own ways.

We value white culture and their thinking, but I think aboriginal values are just as important and we are not touching on that at all. Through these programs we are addressing what is out there -- the alcohol problem, but the cultural problem has never been addressed. I think if we are going to prevent future suicide, we have to look at aboriginal people as aboriginal people. I think that is what is missing in most of the programs right now. A person does need a house in order for them to be secure. An aboriginal person would not think that way. Shelter perhaps, but should it be a house? Would a tent do just as well or an igloo? What is wrong with those kinds of shelters? We are not addressing those kinds of things. We are giving the aboriginal people a false sense that the house is the most important part of a shelter. I would say a teepee serves just as well. We should be touching on those things. We are not doing that. I think this government should look at that as a priority.