Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very glad we are having this debate. The previous Assembly had a very good debate in committee of the whole on this issue when the AIDS crises was developing. I would like to think that it helped lead to the so-called AIDS project, which I think did some very good work over three years in alerting our population to this staggering problem.
Mr. Chairman, I think the information we have been given should tell us that there is still a great cause for alarm. As I understand it, the random blood sampling which was done showed much higher rates of HIV infection than the national average, although I understand it was a limited sample and therefore may not be statistically as valid as if it would have been a larger sample. I also noted we have a higher proportion of heterosexual infection in the Northwest Territories than in the rest of Canada. These are very alarming indicators, Mr. Chairman, and I think it means that the problem should be treated as a matter of the most urgent priority by the Minister and the Department of Health.
Mr. Chairman, Tabled Document 91-12(3), which is a review of the so-called AIDS project, is a very useful document. I would like to note, in my view, it contains some excellent recommendations. Some of those recommendations touch on the issues Members have raised this morning. I would like to touch on a few of them. One of the recommendations on page v, suggests there should be discussion promoted in the Legislative Assembly which will bring AIDS and the need for a new campaign to the forefront. We are doing that and I am happy that we are doing that now.
Mr. Chairman, another recommendation I noted is that there should be funding secured to provide each regional health board with a person year for a health promotion officer whose main responsibility will be AIDS education. I understand the philosophy of the department has been that responsibility should take place, should be given to deliver these programs at the regional and community level because each region is different and these boards do have the capability to reach into the communities. I think this makes sense, but I also think they need the resources and materials to do the job. So, it seems to me that even in these times of scarce funds, the recommendation of having health promotion officers dedicated to this issue available in each region will be a critical response to public concern or the Members' concern about this.
On the moral issue that Mr. Gargan and others have discussed, I note that recommendation 24, and there are many recommendations about media and television, suggests that elders could participate in a video to discuss life-style issues, such as spirituality, values, choices, personal and community growth. Life-styles that have a positive image as role models could be presented. I think this, too, would be very helpful. We have this fantastic tool for communication in Television Northern Canada in aboriginal languages. It is an existing, very expensive system. It is there, all we have to do produce the material and we can have access, and it goes to every home whether you are a cable subscriber or not. This is a fantastic opportunity to do mass education awareness.
It has also been suggested that there be a comprehensive sexual practices survey, recommendation 31, to examine cultural mores surrounding sexual practices in the Northwest Territories. We need to know more about our people, when and how they engage in sexual activities. I suspect we will find that most of the dangerous unprotected sex occurs in the context of alcohol use. If that is the case, then perhaps this is where we should target our distribution of condoms and our education programs.
In general comments, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that I believe the perception is that after an intense activity, where people went door to door, there were a great deal of promotional materials, there seems to have been less emphasis on this issue. There is a bit of a perception growing that perhaps the problem is reduced and perhaps everything is all right. The information we have got this morning from the Minister and her officials is that it is not all right, there are some very alarming indicators and perhaps we need to revive the issue through this discussion and through other initiatives.
In closing, I would like to ask the Minister whether, and I know this was recommended by the Standing Committee on Finance which she was a Member of, there should be a targeted priority on AIDS and whether, in fact, the department has a strategy and will make it a priority to respond to, at least, some of the recommendations in this evaluation. I think it has many sensible recommendations. Will it be the Minister's priority to respond to this report with a plan and with dedicated resources? Thank you.