Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The orthodontic travel issue has been a very sensitive one because it is costing us a lot of money to send people outside the Northwest Territories to obtain treatment that should be available here in the territories.

The department developed a draft call for proposals that could be used by all of the health boards to ask dental clinics and orthodontists to submit proposals to provide those services at the major regional centres. That would mean that our expenses would go down significantly because of the reduction in travel. Those calls for proposal are at various stages now. Some of them are advertised and the boards have received proposals. There are varying responses. I understand that the Inuvik board, for example, has received five proposals. Another board has received two. There are a couple of boards who are simply in the middle of the process of advertising it and that is expected to be complete by mid-April.

We are also working with the communities in the South Slave to allow more of them to access the orthodontic contract already in place between the Government of the Northwest Territories and a southern orthodontist who travels to Yellowknife to provide services in this community. That is a bit of a different negotiating process, but we are satisfied that we will have coverage across the Northwest Territories within the next two to three months, or at least we will have an agreement for that coverage. That will allow us to achieve one of the objectives that is identified in the main estimates: reducing orthodontic travel by about $400,000. Thank you.