Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the fiscal situation this government faces, we will certainly do our best to continue to address the special needs of children in the classroom. As I have said in this House before the special needs portion of the formula that we use to provide funding to divisional education councils is the one area that has actually increased over the past three years and has not seen reductions as other areas have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding Fort McPherson where the numbers I have heard from the Principal at an education council meeting that was held with the assistant deputy minister, we heard numbers of up to 25 percent of the student body is affected in some way or another and because of that the delivery of services. One of the suggestions was, if there was a possibility of the Department of Health and the Department of Education consolidating their efforts to come up with some sort of a solution, that we do not just look at it as an education problem, but also a health problem. Is there any way the Minister could commit himself to possibly looking at this, in light of this also being a health problem?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In comparison to how departments operated in the past, our new envelope system does, in fact, bring departments closer together when it comes to looking at issues such as this. We have a good history of working together within our envelope, education and health in particular, on programs designed to help children in need. An example I can point to is the Healthy

Children Initiative, which is a cooperative effort between the Department of Health and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I can assure the Member that we will work together with our partners in the envelope to try and ensure that we address the problem as economically as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding the social envelope, one of the problems that we see with FAE/FAS children is alcohol and sexual abuse and the effects of which a lot of these children have found themselves in because of the alcohol related illness that has caused this to come about. Is there any way that you can also look at that to build into, you mentioned the Healthy Children Initiative, but also look at the delivery of the programs in the communities such as what we are trying to do through the Tl'oondih Healing Program or through the Department of Health with regard to alcohol and related things to deal with the family and also the discipline of the children? It seems one of the areas which is mostly affected is the discipline these children have and how they act in the schools. Is there a way you could also consider looking at those programs and delivery so they look at the alcohol related effects of these children in the classroom? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has worked with agencies in the north already to develop programs to help caregivers deal with young people who are suffering from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and fetal alcohol effects and, in fact, there is now some training that is offered to our educators which are available to help them understand how to deal with the situation. The answer to the Member's direct question is, we will work together with Health and Social Services, to the best of our abilities. Both Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment staff recognize, because of the limitation of funding that we face, we have to find a way to work together to deal with problems such as this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, regarding the meeting that was held in Fort McPherson with your assistant deputy minister, can the Minister tell me if he had an opportunity to meet with the deputy minister and be briefed on that discussion and if he has, is there a chance that he could also give me an update as to what happened with that briefing as to what is going to be done in relation to that meeting? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have before me the briefing note related to that meeting that Ms. Pauline Gordon attended with the Member in the community. I will be happy to meet with the Member at any time to discuss and follow up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question at this time will be directed to the Minister of FMBS. Mr. Speaker, as in my Member's statement, I stated that I spoke to many employees and union representatives in my community. One of their major concerns is, if this agreement is accepted, how it would deal with employees who worked for this government since the complaint was laid in 1989 and who no longer work with government and have left the territories. My question to the Minister is, how would this agreement that is before everyone, how would that impact those past employees who worked for this government and are no longer living within the territory, how it would impact them? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This would include all people, past employees who were working for this government since 1989, the date the complaint was filed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is there any way of informing employees, besides the big issues that are going into the papers, and so on? Are there fillers with their pay cheques to inform them of this, all of the positions that are being put forward; for example, the two percent minimum for all employees?