Mr. Chairman, the Mackenzie Regional Health Services -- and that's what it's called because it doesn't have a board, but it does have a unit -- is a bureaucracy that serves these two regions. In the past I've tried on numerous occasions to try to get the board set up or a semblance of some kind of a board so that the representation could be there. In the past it was a bit difficult because there was quite a bit of work being done on the claim and people just really weren't available to put a lot of attention to it. It just really wasn't moved forward but came in bits and pieces. As I stated earlier in the proposal from the Dogrib Nation, perhaps a way to save some of the money on forming more and more bureaucracies is look for a board that takes in health, social services, education; a social program board. We would be willing to carry out some of these meetings to see what direction the Deh Cho themselves would like to move in. We're prepared to do that as soon as the people are ready to have those meetings and discussions.

Right now the Mackenzie Regional Health Services system takes care of that region as though they were a board but the Member is quite right, you don't have people sitting on a board but they do act as a service unit to those two regions and attempt to make sure that the health centres in each community... As much as possible, it's handled locally through the health centres and if there is a requirement for further treatment, sometimes the Fort Smith Hospital is accessed and then Yellowknife. There is a process for how people get from one place to another or how they get their health needs taken care. In that regard, the MLA probably gets more involved because of the lack of a health board. We try as much as possible to be positive in trying to get through those requests, whether it comes from a community, a chief or from the MLA to deal with those issues. We're prepared to start looking at the kind of organization that the Deh Cho sees as a model to serve the needs of the Deh Cho and if that can happen right away, we're prepared to have those meetings. I talked with Gerry Antoine and he had said that their study was almost complete, on what they feel should be a health delivery system. So, incorporating that, we would be prepared to meet at the earliest possible time.