Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in running a corporation, that long-term view that the shareholder brings to the table does not often contain an understanding of staffing needs of a corporation. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister maintain that he and his Cabinet colleagues have a better understanding of staffing needs for the corporation than do the board of directors?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that with reference to staffing needs, there is also the question of the current time as to a study that is being undertaken and not all of the information with regard to finalizing that particular study have been completed. That could potentially impact upon the staffing needs of the corporation. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Surely the study the Minister refers to will not lead to an increase in the staff. I would expect that, in fact, the corporation will need to be restructured on division, leading to some downsizing. So why did the government decide to direct the corporation not to advise employees who might be affected by such downsizing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Circumstances could be such that changes to the staffing levels could take place because of perhaps other opportunities or other changes that may come forward because of the study that is underway. Also, Mr. Speaker, there is an opportunity to address this once the study is through, and there is a requirement for three months' notice. So there is ample opportunity still to address the staffing issue, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the notice that was planned to be given by the board, affected employees would have had perhaps five or six months instead of just three months to plan. Mr. Speaker, the Minister said things could change with this study that might lead to a need for increased staff. Obviously, if they are not allowing them to let people know they are being laid off. Could the Minister outline what some of the potential opportunities would be for increased opportunities, as he said, for the Power Corporation?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that would be premature to address in light of the study that is being undertaken by a group of individuals. That report will be available at the end of November and will no doubt clarify a lot of the questions that have been raised with regard to the future of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Madam Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. There has been some interest indicated by Dr. Morris here in Yellowknife to do some research work in Aklavik with respect to this bacteria which is believed to contribute to duodenal ulcers in patients and over a period of years may also be associated with stomach cancer.

At this point in time, to the best of my knowledge, they are still at this stage of exploring the feasibility of such a study. There have been some consultations done with the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board and also with our chief medical health officer. At this time though, the research proposal is not fully developed and we are attempting, with the proponent of this study, to identify potential sources of funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, another concern with regard to this study is the whole thing about the water tank study to test all the water holding tanks in people's homes and also the treatment facility and the water delivery truck that delivers water to the homes. I would like to also ask the Minister who is responsible for the environmental health of the residents of the Northwest Territories, if she is also willing to consider the costs associated with that, which is something that her department can take on and possibly do separately from this study. So will the Minister consider looking at doing this with regard to environmental health?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again the Member is correct. I understand that when the terms of reference are fully developed, it may look at whether or not there are places in the community where this bacteria is building up and an obvious place to look would be in water tanks. Mr. Speaker, environmental health does fall under the Department of Health and Social Services as well and certainly the monitoring of drinking water in the communities and the testing of that is a responsibility that does fall to our department as well. I believe the Member's question is, are we willing as a department to look at the water supply from an environmental health point of view. Yes, we are. But in relation to this specific proposal for this research project for the community of Aklavik specifically, at this time without the terms of reference of a proposal for this research being fully developed, it is not possible to commit to funding this from the department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know this study is not unique to Aklavik. It could have beneficial outcomes that could be used in other communities up and down the valley. Because it is a possible benefit to the whole North, what results come from these studies and how the study is carried out is important to all people of the North. So will the Minister commit to ensuring that there will be a speedy answer to this study and to get it off the ground as soon as possible so we can see what the results of this study?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not in a position to commit resources from the department to this study at this time. It needs to be looked at in the context in the incidence of cancer and stomach cancer and ulcers which may be related to this particular bacteria. We have ways of tracking the rates of cancer. We have a very good cancer registry, so we would need to prioritize this expenditure in relation to the incidence that we see this problem occurring. In fact, in the Northwest Territories in general, there are actually very small rates of stomach cancer and they have been steadily decreasing over the past several decades. Thank you.