Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin my general comments on the Department of Health and Social Services, bringing up some points that I have noted in the report from the Standing Committee on Social Programs that I was researching a few minutes ago and from the general comments made by the Minister and from the department's work over the past 12 months.

I would like to start off by simply talking about the reforms brought up by the Minister and the Social Programs Committee. Reforming does not mean simply abandoning, downsizing, and reductions. Some have said that we are moving too fast on the reductions that we have seen in this department. I guess we do not want to be concerned with every criticism, unless they are valid. Mr. Chairman, I think that criticism is a valid one. I do not think that we want to be compared to southern jurisdictions where health care has taken a beating, where they are moving toward more privatization of health care. Mr. Chairman, I would note that the current major review being done by Med-Emerg, and again I have to reiterate our concern that the Nunavut hospital located in Iqaluit, and the Inuvik hospital construction proceed post-haste, following on the heels of the memorandum of understanding in the agreement that was placed by the federal Department of Health Canada in 1997/98, when they transferred the responsibility for health to the Northwest Territories, at that time had promised funding for the construction of these hospitals. I hope this initiative moves forward and I will be asking the Minister later today or tomorrow on that initiative.

There is a major concern with the Department of Health and Social Services having relinquished its responsibility for social assistance. Although the name is Health and Social Services, social services has fallen now under the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment, and is being called income support. Income support or social assistance causes a cross pollenization of departments and responsibilities. This causes confusion, not only for the Members, but also for the public at large who are asking questions and seeking information at the local level. The confusion here is who do you address the questions to? Do you go to the town social services department, or do you go to education, culture, and careers about income support? Do you ask a question in the House to the Minister of Social Services or do you ask the question to the Minister of Income Support? There is confusion not only at this level, but at the local level. Thank you. I see the Minister acknowledges that there is a problem. The high rates of infant mortality, FAS/FAE, and other health matters have to be shown and demonstrated that the root cause here, Mr. Chairman, is the social economic problems of the Northwest Territories.

Reforming our health strategy is not going to address those, unless we look at the total package, the total situation regarding housing. The stop gap measure that was announced today is a step in the right direction, but it is a small step. The social economic problems that we are dealing with at the community level, at the regional and the territorial level, have to be addressed.

Mr. Chairman, the Minister, Mr. Ng, has taken on a difficult challenge with this department over the last 12 or 14 months. It has been reflected, I think, and demonstrated over the past few weeks with the announced closure of Delta House and some other facilities. It demonstrates the tough fiscal situation that this territory has found itself in, because of the mismanagement and the largesse of past governments. With a short 18 months left before division, there is very little concrete that you can plan in a five to 10 year strategy, because you cannot tie one government into carrying out the wishes of another government in that successive right. That is something that has to be addressed.

Mr. Chairman, I understand the Minister and the work that he has put in. The Social Programs Standing Committee of this government, of this House, has done a lot of work in addressing some of the concerns and needs of the constituency at large. The recommendations following out of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, I hope will be taken seriously by the Minister, and implemented as part of the policy and programs and ongoing operations of this government.

Mr. Chairman, the time for rhetoric is past. Concrete measures and initiatives need to be taken now. Although, we live in the envelope of reductions and downsizing, we have to remember the people that we are here to serve. As legislators in this Assembly, we are here primarily as law makers. But we also have to look at the public purse and hopefully provide programs and policies that are beneficial to all residents of the Northwest Territories. I think that after reviewing the Social Programs Standing Committee report and the address and the budget of this envelope of Health and Social Services, we are moving toward that goal. I also see that there is a lot of pain to come, and there is no way that you can look at the budget of this department, or ECE, or any other of the major departments under the social envelope, without looking at the social economic conditions that have caused the problems that we see right now in our society. With that, I would like to end my opening comments, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to reviewing this budget in some detail with the Minister and the departmental staff. Thank you.