Mr. Chairman, I would prefer that he continue. Thank you.

Thank you. One of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions, was with respect to changes that should be made in health legislation. What process is the Minister considering with respect to proceeding with these amendments and others which may be identified by health and hospital boards, the whole process of a legislative review? What process are you going to be considering with regard to the legislative review?

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

Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Chairman, the priorities for modification of legislation are first with the Public Health Act, the Medical Profession Act and the THIS Act. A contract has been let to assist in developing some of the issues which have to be dealt with in revamping a public health act which is seriously obsolete. This will be guided in a collaborative effort to ensure that the interests of health professionals, boards, aboriginal organizations and others are considered, but there is a great deal of preparatory work which must be done.

In terms of modification of the THIS Act, there is a preliminary step of completing the memorandum of understanding between the department and boards. We have, today, reviewed the ten proposals which were submitted in response to an RFP to begin that process, and we expect it will be completed by the end of September. That will place us in a much better position to establish a time frame for modification of the THIS Act. There are other legislative initiatives which will be required because many of the acts under which we operate are now obsolete, but there is an extensive amount of effort required to deal with each of them and we must be careful in the commitment of our resources to this effort. At the moment, the priorities are with the Public Health Act, Medical Profession Act and THIS Act.

Mahsi. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts indicated that the mandate for health legislation and policy division should become more focused on coordinating the ongoing review and amendment of health related legislation, rather than spending staff time on crisis-oriented responses. What will the Minister and department be doing over the course of this summer to review and re-focus a mandate of this division within the department?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That will be part of the functional review, which will be carried out this year. Thank you.

This begs a question, where are you in the process and what is the status of the functional review?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That was one of the recommendations that was made in one of the standing committees, I believe it was finance, to do a functional review. That is going to be started this year. Thank you.

It was a recommendation from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. When are you starting this functional review? Is it under way now? Do you have terms of reference? How are you proceeding?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As soon as our budget is passed, we have the intention to start right away. Thank you.

Let us hope it gets passed. In some of the public hearings surrounding the report of the Auditor General, departmental officials pointed out that a mandate of health and hospital boards of management are influenced by the territorial Public Health Act, which requires that public health boards be established. Will the Minister make a commitment to review both the Territorial Hospital Insurances Act and the Public Health Act to ensure there are no statutory impediments to greater board autonomy, remembering that in the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions' report, board autonomy and the creation of new boards was one recommendations that was made. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A while ago, David Kinloch elaborated on these two acts, that they do need an overhaul. These three acts are in the process of being amended. Thank you.