I will ask Mr. Ramsden to speak to that. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, there is a wide range of programs that we are both supporting and seeking to improve upon that need to be consistently offered across the territory. There is not a broad range of territorial programs, in fact, the delivery responsibility for programs rests with the boards. What our role is, is to ensure that each board can deliver those programs and that there is a territorial consistency in terms of the delivery. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, under the authority of the Minister, the directorate provides leadership and direction to the department and monitors health and social services program delivery to the public, including health and disease surveillance. Under disease surveillance and environmental concerns, would I be safe to assume that the environmental health officers would be under that area? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, and also the chief medical officer, of course.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, under disease surveillance, there has been for some time now concern in Yellowknife regarding the arsenic problem at Giant Mine. I am wondering if the department has been following up on this on a regular basis? Do they have any idea how much is there? What is the department's response on the arsenic problem here?

Mr. Chairman, our medical health officer, our staff that work in the environmental health area, the medical association and the Yellowknife health and social services organization jointly and recently made a submission to the water board dealing with the water licence for Giant Mine where they shared with the board their concerns from an environmental health perspective and their advice in terms of monitoring the future and potential prospects of environmental contamination. They are very much engaged in that very current issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, following up on our disease surveillance, there has been over the past several months and now in the last few weeks, concerns raised with different types of influenzas. One, for example, would be Sydney Type A, which is in Toronto and has been identified in Ottawa. In the east, because of our transportation links, there is a concern that indeed that strain, which seems to be a virulent strain, may already be in place. Does the department have any plan in place to inoculate people for Sydney Type A? Are they following on this serious health issue? Will they be trying to help elders and people who are susceptible to those types of pneumonias and flues? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, the medical health officer and

the chief medical health officer are constantly in contact with both their colleagues across the provinces and with Health Canada. Health Canada has the initial response in terms of pandemic, a disease that threatens broad ranges of the country. Most recently it was in action during the concerns around the so-called Bird Flu out of Hong Kong. These recent concerns are very much under their scrutiny right now. In the meantime, it has always been a role for the medical health officer to offer advice and direction to the public health staff, including community health nurses around the role of influenza immunization flu shots. They put particular effort on offering that kind of immunization to people that are most at risk, typically elders. I cannot speak to their most recent recommendations in terms of the availability of flu shots for this most recent strain, but while we can confirm that later I am quite confident that they are in very close contact with Health Canada and with their Ontario colleagues at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Moving on under administration, population health provides the lead in developing core services, program standards, monitoring outcomes in health status and providing an evaluation framework as the department moves toward a ministry function. What does that mean, Mr. Chairman, toward a Ministry function in that area? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I think the way in which we try to make it clear, both within the department and to boards, is that we see our job, our responsibility, being in areas other than the direct delivery of service. We do not see ourselves, typically, having a direct client, patient or resident relationship. We see our job falling into the areas of defining what is acceptable, offering the support and ensuring that the services that are offered are appropriate; more important, particularly in the population health area, making sure that the services that are provided actually make a difference to the health and wellness of people and ensuring that both the department and boards report back to residents on the health status and the actual efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, following along under administration, the reform transition board supports, in the following areas, we talk about children and family services and mental health. My question here is on mental health. In the east, as an example, we have no psychiatric unit. We have no mental health facilities. Earlier this week we talked about injustice, where people with mental illness seem to be incarcerated and not been properly cared for. I wonder what type of strategic plan, under reform transition, is the department actually doing to help with this problem of mental health? In other jurisdictions a lot of these people would be in psychiatric counselling or in other facilities. We do not have that access here in the territories, other than the psychiatric ward at the Stanton. I would like to have some followup on that from the staff.

Mr. Chairman, it is certainly the view of the department that mental health needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories have taken a back seat to the physical needs of people as the system evolved and as pressures developed in the system. It is clearly an area where we think we can make a significant difference in terms of the supports for residents. It is clearly the area where early intervention makes a genuine difference. The care reform initiative for the department has very much begun to deal in that area and more specifically is dealing in the area of children services in that regard. There is a significant amount of work going on right now to assess the needs and the services and, obviously, then to test for gaps in the system. The department is supporting, in one particular area in Yellowknife, a pilot project that is looking at taking a more aggressive case management approach to people that actually come to Yellowknife from various regions of the territories drawing on the existing service system. There are still significant inconsistencies in terms of the range of services that are provided today in the mental health area across the territories. Thank you.