Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The replacement or major upgrading of these two very old hospitals was a major part of the negotiations between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada. The responsibility for delivering health services in the Northwest Territories was transferred from the federal government to our government in 1987. Mr. Chairman, when the transfer was concluded, written agreements were signed between the two governments. It is quite clear that the federal government promised, in those agreements, that the cost of replacement or major upgrading of these two hospitals serving the Inuvik and Baffin regions would be cost-shared by the federal government. Mr. Chairman, the portion of the costs which the federal government promised to pay was the ratio of the proportion of aboriginal people in the population of the region in which the new hospital was to be located.

In the case of the Baffin region, the formula works very much in our favour. Since over 80 per cent of the population of the Baffin is Inuit, this means that the government is legally bound and committed to paying over 80 per cent of the cost of our new hospital. Mr. Chairman, this hospital is sometimes called the Iqaluit hospital. I would emphasize the hospital serves the entire Baffin region. I believe patients come to the Baffin hospital from time to time. I know they are welcome since our hospital has many experienced Inuit staff. The outpatients department of the Baffin Regional Hospital sees over 10,000 per year. This is almost the equivalent of the entire population of the Baffin. The hospital is used by many more people than those who live in Iqaluit.

A lot of good work has been done in planning what the new hospital should do. There is a strong need to modernized this hospital for the 1990s and beyond. For example, right now there are no appropriate facilities for people who are seriously mentally ill. There's a need for chronic care for the elders in our region. There's a need for a hospice for the dying. Many of these needs can and should be met in our communities. It is apparent that more services should be provided in the Baffin hospital rather than sending patients to Montreal. I believe we can benefit from the experience of the Stanton Regional Hospital. In that hospital, according to the plans, specialists are recruited and paid on salary to establish in the North. Working in the Stanton Regional

Hospital in the short-term while medical travel and hospitalization costs decreased. Stanton found that attracting surgeon specialists to the North was a lot more cost effective than relying on those same services to be delivered in very expensive Edmonton hospitals.

Mr. Chairman, this new hospital will not only replace a very old facility but it will also allow us to modernize our health care delivery system in the whole region. We are very fortunate in the Baffin and Inuvik regions that we can rely on the binding legal commitment from the federal government to guarantee that the major part of the funding which will be required to build these new facilities. Mr. Chairman, I include the Inuvik Regional Hospital in my motion in order to seek support from my honourable colleagues from the Inuvik region. Two hospitals were promised by the federal government in the same agreement signed when health was transferred to our government. I will let my honourable colleagues from the Inuvik region discuss their hospital and the need in their region, since that is the area in which they were elected to represent.

Mr. Chairman, I hope that all Members will be able to support this motion. It is very important to the mayor and MLAs of our regions. The motion does not say that these new hospitals are the only capital priorities. It simply says that they are the major capital priorities. A lot of money has already been spent on previous years planning these new facilities. I believe the federal government has already transferred some of the promised funds to the GNWT in past years. Communities have been extensively consulted. We are on the verge of proceeding to the design phase. This will be a major task. There will be a sizeable cost to our government even though our share is much less than the federal government's share. However, Mr. Chairman, this is a chance to invest in an improved health system and improved facilities. This is a chance to modernize our health care delivery system to take advantage of the very latest ways of delivering health services most effectively and efficiently in the North. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.