Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The programs which Mr. Koe has spoken about are offered through Arctic College. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I apologize. I missed the Minister's response.

Mr. Chairman, the program which you were talking about are Arctic College programs.

I know that, but I am asking whether the department is involved in the development of any of these programs. Arctic College delivers training, but the department funds the organization that runs or contributes to these organizations. I want to know whether the department is working with other departments, such as Arctic College or Education in developing these things.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we are working with the Department of Education and Arctic College. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the objectives is to provide support programs for community-based suicide prevention awareness programs. Any type of funding from the government to communities are always welcome, especially when the communities do not have that many resources. In most communities funding is needed, Mr. Chairman. I guess the community-based program is better than any other program because the communities know the problem. They live in the community, they know the people and they know the problem. I am wondering if the Minister would indicate to me which communities would be given some funding. Is it the municipality that wishes to use their own initiative to deal with their own problems, or is it a group, such as a youth group or a community social services committee? If any other group in the community wishes to go after funding through a proposal, what is the procedure? Does the community go through the regional office to receive some funding from headquarters or would the community group be able to apply for funding through the Minister's office? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will let Mr. Dunbar respond to that.

Mr. Chairman, the bulk of the funds in this particular area have been used to fund regional meetings on suicide prevention. These have been held in various regional centres over the last two years. One of the main thrusts of those meetings has been to assist the department in developing a northern-based, community-based suicide prevention curriculum which will then be taken back out to various community groups to provide training for people, not just departmental employees, but people working or living in various communities. At the present time, the contribution funding is held in headquarters as the bulk of it is going toward the development of that curriculum. That should be completed this year. At that point, we hope we would set up a process whereby funding would be initially applied for, certainly, through the regional offices.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Having the programs and services closer to the community within the region is a good idea, but sometimes planning for funding through the regional office is not always the best way. Sometimes, things seem to stop at the regional level. That is one of the reasons why I asked the question. If a community wishes to apply for funding for this type, I wonder if the

community could, as well, go through the Minister's office. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the community does not get a response from the regional office, then contact with my office would be quite welcome. Thank you.

For the record, Mr. Chairman, I am not putting down the Department of Social Services within the Kitikmeot region, but there are times when things seem to stop at the regional level. That is why I mentioned that, for the record. Thank you.

Agreed.

---Agreed

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