Excellent question, Mr. Speaker, from my colleague and if he will recall, if he looks at Hansard, I believe I said this means that the government cannot knowingly ignore the legal obligations set out in the Canadian Human Rights Act by signing a new collective agreement with rates of pay that might be discriminatory against female employees. The UNW is faced with the same dilemma.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the UNW has to too, but they are not implementing the Hay Plan proposal. The Minister just said he believes the Hay Plan Proposal, indeed, is gender neutral. He believes it, the government believes it, but do they have any facts to back that up other than the company that he hired to do it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

We are confident, Mr. Speaker, very confident, that the Hay and Associates job evaluation analysis will stand the test with the Human Rights Commission. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services as a followup to the ones I made earlier today regarding the agreement in principle that was reached between the University of Manitoba, their Northern Medical Unit and the Keewatin Regional Health Board. It indicates that the agreement is in principle. Can the Minister state whether or not it has been actually signed and when the services will take place? Is there a date set to have these services reinstated in the Keewatin? Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng. Two questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would make the assumption that it had been signed because of the fact the agreement has been reached in principle as the press release states. I think given that, the services are in place as well on an interim basis as they continue to negotiate toward a final agreement, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure, as the Minister can appreciate, what the people in the Keewatin want, certainly when it relates to their health care and this is an agreement in principle which indicates that it is not a long-term arrangement. My question to the Minister is, when does he feel that a long-term arrangement or permanent arrangement can be reached, given the fact that we have had a number of months passed since we have discussed this issue and at this point, we just have a short term arrangement. When do we expect a permanent arrangement? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would anticipate that the negotiations and discussions are

obviously ongoing. The important thing to recognize here, I think, is that the agreement in principle is in place until a permanent agreement can be reached between the parties. There will be work done on it. I am hopefully optimistic that within the next few weeks they can be able to resolve this issue on a more permanent nature. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Mr. Speaker, also in discussions and some of the debate that we have had in the House over the last many months, we also spoke about the need for social services and the lack of practitioners in the Keewatin. Is there any effort being made to include an arrangement for services regarding social services practitioners, also from the northern medical unit or from Churchill?

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not believe so because I do not think there is an area of expertise in the northern medical unit for the social worker's aspect of services. It is recognized that the nurse practitioners and the social worker's vacancies were an issue or continue to be an issue, I guess, in the Keewatin. One of the priorities is to fill those positions on a short-term and on a longer-term basis, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister Responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

I have said, consistently since this issue started, and I, as the Finance Minister, initiated discussions with the UNW and offered a cooperative arm in trying to reach a resolve, that we want to come to an agreement. I say again today publicly, just to reassure everybody, I would like to come to an agreement by April 1, 1998, that would put new monies into the hands of female employees and some additional cash into those who are still here and those that have gone on the retroactive side. Should no agreement be reached, the existing job classifications, I would imagine, will have to remain in place and would. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Todd.