Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I forgive you for getting mixed up with the names. I do not blame you. We are from the same region, we are about the same height, and we are about the same age. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the people of Natilikmiot area, (inaudible), I would like to thank the government for giving concern beyond, in some cases, our expectation. I would also like to thank the staff at the Stanton Hospital for treating people from my area as well as the hospital in Edmonton. There are many concerns that I have under this department and one concern that seems to prevail over others for my communities that I mentioned earlier is in the area of medical travel.

Mr. Chairman, there are times when a unilingual elder is required to travel for medical reasons either by the charter aircraft or by scheduled airline. In many instances, Mr. Chairman, I have people coming over to me, in three of my communities, that at times did not have adequate escort or in some cases, none at all that speak the language. I am not saying that translation services at Stanton Hospital is incapable of translating. On the contrary, Mr. Chairman, I think the translators at the Stanton Hospital are very highly capable given the language. But in the eastern Arctic there are in fact different dialects from one region to another region, in some cases even in the same region. Inuktitut, for instance, Natilik, Pelly Bay, Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak speak about the same dialect. West of Gjoa Haven, Coppermine and Cambridge Bay also speak a slightly different dialect from that same region.

Mr. Chairman, imagine any of the Members here going to a hospital from point A to point B, between your community and the medical centre community, that you do not understand the language, either of the crew of the aircraft, the people that are meeting you at the airport, and then, subsequently, people at the residence that you are going to be staying at, finally the medical profession at the medical centre. I think when the patient is put through that kind of stress, it may not help the patient. In most cases, I am told, from my community, Mr. Chairman, there are times when the patient, even an English patient, is not really able to understand the interpreter/translator. Again, I would like to stress that I am not saying that whoever that person is is not capable, they are very capable, but the problem is the dialects are different between the interpreter and the patient. Mr. Chairman, I think lacking the appropriate escort and interpreter for a patient, even an English patient, may in fact prolong the recovery of that patient. There has to be a dialogue between the medical profession and the patient. I think that is rule number one. In order for the doctor to diagnosis the patient, he has to be able to understand what the problem is, where the pain is coming from. By the same token, for a patient to be able to be comfortable with the doctor, she or he has to understand the doctor. Every bit of communication along the process is very important. I would like to stress that to the Members here. Mr. Chairman, I think, we have talked about cutting services, we have talked about reductions. I understand that concept. I think the public in the territories understand that. But, on the other hand, when the patient is not having an appropriate translator, that is not able to speak his or her language, that may prolong the recovery as I indicated before. I think there is a money saving in this area, of having an escort for the patient, an appropriate translation service for that patient. That is one of the issues that come from my area. I am not only speaking for those people because they have spoken to me. I know of cases where the patient was not able to relate to or understand the language. I would like to stress that the important point is the communication, the dialogue between the doctor and the patient. That should be understood. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.