Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It has been this government's practice for the past year to try and operate within the resources we have. That is what we are going to be doing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The final report of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions comments on concerns which have been raised with respect to interpreter/translator services in hospitals. This is also an issue which my honourable colleague for Natilikmiot has raised in this House on a number of occasions, including November 23, 1992. The Minister should know that the interpretation of medical terminology and especially instructions which a doctor gives a patient about how to carry through with treatment expectations requires a level of understanding and confidence that has to be developed through specialized training. Can the Minister indicate what steps have been taken to ensure that the staff who are hired as interpreters in the hospitals receive the training and support they need to be able to carry out their demanding work?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is a training program which is in place at the present time which is used for the medical interpreters. I realize there are some difficulties with medical terminology with respect to translation. However, the language bureau has an extensive collection of medical terminology in Inuktitut. I am not aware if there is one for the other aboriginal languages. These were compiled through interpreter/translator workshops which Indian and Northern Affairs started some years ago. Those are the ones which we would be using to familiarize the interpreters we have in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the fact that the interpreter/translators often have to deal with life and death situations, it was surprising to hear references to the fact that they are classified in the lower level, and are therefore paid a lower salary than other equivalent positions within the government. Can the Minister explain what she will be doing to address this apparent discrepancy in classification levels?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If our aboriginal medical interpreters can pass the present language bureau's training program tests which are from level I to level IV, then their pay will be raised according to the rank which they fall under or they pass. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If they are not as qualified as regular interpreters who are classified under the interpreter corps test requirement, will they be trained so they become qualified as well as any other certified interpreter?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The medical interpreters which we have in the hospitals do not require the same training as the language bureau staff. For instance, most of the language bureau interpreters are required to pass consecutive interpreting. Most of the interpreting done in the hospitals are consecutive interpreting, after the doctor has spoken the interpreter would translate it to one of the aboriginal languages. Their knowledge will be assessed and their pay level raised accordingly. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I am not talking about whether they are qualified as consecutive interpreters. I am talking about the quality of interpreting services in the hospitals. Even if it is not consecutive, there still needs to be clarity in the message which is being given to the doctor or received by the patient from the doctor. Would that not require quality interpreting, since they will also need to make sure the consent forms are understood, the seriousness of the particular illness

and the potential of possibly complications? Would this not be classified as a requirement for quality interpreting? Mr. Chairman, is that how I am understanding the Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Being an interpreter is not just simply being able to speak well in both languages. Most of the interpreters which we have are talented, they have a natural talent and a knack for it. We could hire a person, who is just starting out and does excellent work, without any kind of training, but we have had a training service for the interpreters in the medical facilities since 1990. There are six modules.

I could pursue this for quite awhile, Mr. Chairman, but since there is not much time left, I will go onto the next question. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts' hearings on the Department of Health audit showed that the issue of inadequate interpreter/translator services was raised by the Dene Nation and the Native Women's Association. They seemed to be particularly concerned about similar situations where elders or unilingual people were sent for treatment in southern Canada accompanied by someone who was not capable of providing good interpretation of medical terminology or treatment instructions. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions recommended that a major review should be undertaken by the Minister to look into the current adequacy of language services within the territorial health system. Can the Minister indicate how she will go about doing this?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to have to do some review on this due to the limited number of interpreters we have in place. If we send an interpreter along as an escort to a southern designation, then either the hospitals or nursing stations will be without an interpreter. So, there has to be some review done first before I can adequately respond to the Member's request. Thank you.

Mahsi. Over the past year and a half or two years the most serious issues and concerns have been related to the Department of Health and its relations with the Department of Social Services. There have been many issues and concerns about the department. Many of the concerns stem from the existing policies and procedures within the department, not only territorial but also federal policies and procedures and they relate to the delivery of health care in the north. In many cases, it is not the staff who are at fault, but the ways in which policies are developed, administered and interpreted.

As MLAs on various committees, we have focused much attention on this department and still do. We have tabled several major reports. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions had a recent report on health and hospital boards. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts had a report on the Auditor General's report. The Special Committee on Health and Social Services has tabled four interim reports and will be tabling a final report in October or November of this year. Much work and attention has been paid to this department. I was just looking through the summaries of all the recommendations made by the various reports, in the last two weeks there are some 43 different recommendations made by the standing and special committees.

My point is the department has to regroup, rethink and enable themselves to consider what has been said in the reports, as much work has gone into it, many public hearings, and many meetings with a good cross section of people across the north. The department has to focus on the planning, the various authorities it has and how it does its work.

One area of concern to my region is the area of the provision of health services. One of the objectives is to develop regional health service plans, and to do that you have to look at the current services which are provided at the community and regional levels, and the facilities which are available. You have made commitments in various ways that this will start soon and, hopefully, be done within the year.

I know you are doing something similar in Fort Simpson, but we have heard in our visits there that they are quite concerned with the process, so I hope the department is learning something on how to do these regional studies and not proceed in the similar process which is being used now. If you do not get communities and regional groups behind the process, we are not going to get a good end product. That is the message I want to pass on. I am fully supportive of what is going to happen and I hope that the groundwork gets done so the regional health boards, the community representatives and the regional groups are all involved in the planning of the process, rather than having another top down exercise. The exercise should be stimulated and lead by the communities. I just wanted to make those general comments. I do not know if the Minister wants to respond at this stage.