Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like our good friend in Alberta, Ralph Klein says, good health care does not mean bricks and mortar, more hospitals, good health care means that the people take more control of their health. So you have to have good prevention, you have to have people in control and good government starts right at home. Having a good home. Good government means people have self-sufficiency in their own home the number one issue that we have to face whether you live in the eastern Arctic or whether you live in the new Western Territory is a basic house. If you start off with that. If you start off with a basic need of putting a shelter around your family, a roof over their head, that is the start of self-government, that is the start of becoming self-sufficient, so those are the things I think we have to concentrate on in the west. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you. The Minister responsible for Health and Social Service, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the focus of the serious issue of suicide prevention has taken the main role of trying to provide suicide prevention training programs at a community level for the primary caregivers of the communities and expanding from that, having them trained, to be able to pass on those skills to other members of the community because it is felt the focus should be from the community level. As we know, in trying to address community issues, it is felt that it is the best way of having the most chance of being effective. That has been, over the past few years in the direction of the department in working with communities as a result of a major platform, a major conference that was held on suicide prevention for the Northwest Territories, way back in 1990, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From January 1998 to August 28, 1998, there were 18 suicides in the Northwest Territories, 17 in Nunavut and only one here in the western Arctic. Can the Minister tell us, does the department itself actually have a specific strategy to deal with suicide and suicide prevention? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of suicide as we all know is a tragic one. The reasons for suicide are multi-factorial. It is not just a simple, one answer or one solution to it. We felt as I had indicated after the major conference on suicide that was held in 1990, that the focus should be on having caregivers at the community level to try to work with individuals in the community to deal with this issue. That has been the focus since that time.

There has been a number of "train the trainer" workshops on suicide prevention workshops throughout the Northwest Territories. As we speak now, I understand there is one being held in Iqaluit that has been under way for a week and a half now, a three-week program that has drawn in people from across the territories on this particular issue. Over the past few years, there have been seven other conferences or training sessions held. As a result of that, there have been 123 people who have completed that training. There is a focus in trying to disseminate some of the delivery of caregiving for this issue to the community level, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Second supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of the Minister, that indeed, the workshop occurring in Iqaluit now is a good step. Mr. Speaker, sometimes, when we are talking about suicides we do not have any type of statistic to show where intervention has actually worked and we have stopped someone from committing suicide. We only see when it actually occurs. Since 1990 after the major conference that developed a strategy and the focus that we have taken over the last eight years, is the Minister or is there any plan underway to facilitate another major conference like the one in 1990 to review where we have been and see what type of focus we can take for 1998 and beyond? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Picco. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that in March of this year, there was through the department, the office of the Chief Coroner and Health Canada, they worked together on a descriptive review of the suicidal deaths in the Northwest Territories over the past five years. With that information they are laying the foundation of evaluating where the programs are going and hopefully being able to refine those programs to provide some effective services, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is good news. When will that report be available and will that report be available to the communities to people actually dealing in the field with suicide so they would be able to take that report and hopefully use some of the findings from it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that report to my understanding would be available, and I would certainly provide it to those individuals or organizations that would be interested in it. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. The Member for Hay River, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Dent.