Minister of Health and Social Services, Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, at the meeting of the representatives in Fort Simpson, I committed that what we should do is take a two-tiered approach where we would make a list of the things we could do immediately and some of the issues that would take a little longer to reconcile. I said we would be willing to work with the representative group in Fort Simpson. The department has tentatively come up with a list that they felt they could deal with. However, for some reason, we haven't received the list from the representative group on the areas they felt were priorities to address in the short term. Once session is concluded, I intend to try to get together again with the representative group. Departmental officials are in continual communication to find out if we can list the issues for the short term and for the long term. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that commitment. During the meeting, there was also discussion about Mackenzie Regional Health Services. Currently, it is headquartered in Yellowknife with a number of

employees serving the Dogrib region as well as the Deh Cho region. There have been commitments made in this House with regard to taking these positions and putting them into the regions. I would like to ask the Premier the status of Mackenzie Regional Health Services' devolution into the regions. Thank you.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, that's one issue that the department has determined is possible to attain in the short term. We're proceeding to identify the positions and also talk to the people serving in Fort Simpson. We will attempt to make the necessary notifications to fulfil our obligations to the legislation governing labour standards. It is intended that those positions will be in place in early September. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other issue I would like to ask the Minister about is with regard to a health board of some sort in the Deh Cho region. This has been discussed quite a number of times. The problems arising in the delivery of health services in my constituency seem to stem from lack of local decision-making with regard to health services. This comes down to the question of the board. What has the department done with regard to the development of a health board in the Deh Cho or the constituency of Nahendeh? Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, this is not just a one-sided approach to this issue. The community has to be involved. What we discussed at the meeting is in the initial transfer of health responsibilities to the Northwest Territories, there was funding for one board. However, because the Deh Cho has committed to combining a health and social services board, we probably would be able to combine those two responsibilities and move along with a representative agency for that area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Ballantyne.