Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have stated a number of times already on the concern of targets set, and I believe there's going to be a need to be aggressive in trying

o accomplish these. I am concerned when it comes to a number of different issues, one being health boards with the amount of reductions they've been taking. With regard to the Budget Address, we've seen that things are fairly inequitably done. I will have some questions later on the detailed area of this as to the amount of reductions to different boards.

I also have concerns with the hospitals in Inuvik and Iqaluit about how the issues are going to be played out in the next little bit. I think we've started off in a direction that's very aggressive by the department, which is good to see, but I do have concerns with the effect in the community, possibly, of front-line positions and workers and services available to communities. As the Standing Committee on Social Programs, we tried hard to work with this issue.

I just wanted to make a few comments in the area of fairness and equity amongst the communities and regions, and I'll be directing questions as we go on. Thank you.