Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if it is respect to actual personnel within the Department of Health and Social Services, then, yes, we have an affirmative action policy that we abide by. I do not know if there is specific training in respect to that issue, but certainly, through the senior management, and through the ministers office, we are well aware of it and we abide by it to the utmost.

In respect to any managers that would be coming on to health boards throughout the territories, that would be incumbent upon them, and their boards of management, to adhere to the same policies that our government has, in respect to affirmative action, again, I do not know if there is specific training or education for these managers, but certainly, if it is an issue out there, I would certainly be more than willing to reiterate our government's position on affirmative action and hiring.

What we are trying to do, of course, as we all know here, is to try to promote all kinds of professionals throughout the system. To try and develop a northern work force, particularly in the professional fields the honourable member mentioned. We are trying to develop that base, because in the long run, we know that will benefit the whole of the territories, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all I can say is that we do support and encourage all northern aboriginal people to pursue careers in the health fields. If there is any particular problem that the honourable member refers to, I would certainly be willing to sit down with him and find out if there are any unfair happenings that are going on in respect to the individual case that he might be referring to. We certainly could put together statistics for some of the questions that the honourable member is asking, it is just that I do not know the time frame of when we could do that to satisfy his immediate needs, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the minister of Health and Social Services. Could the minister update this House as to the status of the regional office of the Department of Social Services located in Baker Lake, what is the status, today, in reference to the number of positions that are vacant or not filled and the fact that the regional office no longer has a superintendent of social services located in Baker Lake?

The minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have the specific details of what positions are, or are not, filled right now in the regional social services offices in the Keewatin. I can get this information and forward it to the

honourable member. As you all know, the amalgamation of social services with the Keewatin Health Board is underway, similar to all other regions where we plan to have this finalized by the end of this fiscal year, in preparation for having a consolidated budget for those areas for the next fiscal year. We are including all the transfer positions and the operating dollars for those positions, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to my knowledge, there are 4 vacant positions, or PYs, that have been either lost, or transferred, to Rankin Inlet. it is my understanding that the superintendent's position has been downgraded to a management position which was to be located in Baker Lake, but is now located in Rankin Inlet. My question is, is Baker Lake still considered, and will it still be considered, as the regional headquarters for social services for the Keewatin? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that would be the responsibility of the Keewatin Health Board to finalize that amalgamation. It is true that all superintendent positions of social services in the regions will be downgraded, as you do not need 2 superintendents, and that is part of the reason for the amalgamation, to obtain some efficiencies, to minimize some of the overlap and provide more integrated services within the regions, to try and improve the service.

I cannot speak for the Keewatin Health Board in how they will finalize their operational structure. I can foresee that there will be one headquarters and the social services regional office function will, more than likely, not be based in Baker Lake, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is unfortunate that we do not have the Keewatin Health Board and others here to answer some of these questions. The issue to me is that, if this is what community empowerment is about, it is in a sorry state. We have a situation where, once again, a small community is losing positions to a regional centre. Positions that we cannot afford to lose. I believe this flies in the face of what Footprints 2 is proposing, and, furthermore, I think the minister should give further consideration to ensuring these positions return to Baker Lake, where they belong. Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I can use an example, in my own constituency where the same type of thing happened, social services positions in Kugluktuk, the senior management position and the finance and administration position were deleted because of the anticipated amalgamation with the Kitikmeot Health Board. What they chose to do in my region was to offset those two PY reductions in Kugluktuk by reassigning staff functions from the headquarters location in Cambridge Bay to provide additional Pys in Kugluktuk to offset that.

So, as I said, it is a regional prerogative that they will work out at the regional level. I am sure that, in recognizing some of the losses in the honourable members riding in Baker Lake, that they will more than fairly offset it, whether it is through a move of administrative positions to offset the loss of management positions, or whether it is providing some additional programs to the community, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I see the minister for Renewable Resources is gone... I would like to ask a question of the Finance Minister who is responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board. A couple of weeks ago I read in the paper about the chief mining inspector who had resigned and he had indicated in that article, which, I am not sure if it is true, of course, but I want to get clarification here, the mining inspector indicated that when he took on this job, mining accidents were quite bad and that they had improved quite a bit to the same level of the south.

I would like to ask the minister in charge of Workers' Compensation Board, if he could verify if this is true or not?

I would like to remind the members that the minister does not have to confirm or deny any articles that are done through the media, through newspapers, so perhaps, you might want to rephrase your question, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the minister in charge of the Workers' Compensation Board whether the accident levels in the mines in the NWT have improved since the previous mining inspector took his position?

Mr. Todd.