Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been quite a bit of work done on this so far. We are waiting for the final study or strategy to be put forth. I believe it will be ready within the next week or so. With that, I know the Minister says that this may not be a priority of this government, but I think it is essential that we do adhere to what the doctors are telling us, if they feel there is a very serious possibility of avoiding stomach cancer in our communities by treating it, if we find it early enough and through this study they are hoping to detect that. Because it is a priority of the community of Aklavik, the Inuvik Regional Health Board has supported it. We have a doctor who is going to be overseeing it. It is very important and I, for one, feel that it is this government that has to take a leadership role and ensure that this study is carried out. So will the Minister and her department take that role?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there may be information relevant to this research project which is more current than the information that I have before me. The Member refers to more information being forthcoming in the next couple of weeks and I will certainly commit to the Member that when this information does come to the attention of the department that we will give it due consideration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I remember when the Member for North Slave raised this issue of accommodation for people who are accompanying family members with illnesses who are staying at the hospital in Yellowknife. I remember when he raised this last July. I had suggested that we might check if there were any vacant housing units or any kind of infrastructure which was not already in use here in Yellowknife. I think most Members are aware that there is actually a housing shortage here in Yellowknife at the present time, certainly in the public housing side. There was nothing that came of that particular inquiry.

However, Mr. Speaker, the Member is right. We do have people who come to Yellowknife from communities who do not fall within our medical escort travel policy and who are not reimbursed through any other insurance for accommodations while they are here.

I could undertake to look at the policy we currently have in place for our boarding homes that we have here in Yellowknife, look at the utilization of them and what some of the cost implications might be of expanding the availability of those facilities. Currently, they are primarily used for patients and a medical escort. We could undertake to determine whether or not it is possible to expand on that policy. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can undertake to look into this further, but the Member raises the issue of elders who have come to Yellowknife, or people who have come to Yellowknife from his community and have spent their last days here. Their family, for good and valid reasons, want to be near to them.

One of the discussions I think we need to have with the communities as well is the whole discussion around the kind of support people might need at the end stage of their life, and whether or not they want to be out of their community and whether or not the services could be enhanced in the community through the nursing stations that could provide the medical and emotional support that they would need to actually stay in their communities and, in some instances, even stay in their home. That is a discussion I think we need to have. I do not think we should assume that everyone who has an illness prior to the end of their life wants to be in a medical institution. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to the Minister responsible for Justice and they are in regards to my Member's statement and the concern that I have about the funding to adult offender bush camps and an impending closure of bush camps in the South Slave. I would like to ask the Minister if he is aware of the dire straits that these bush camps are in and what the intention of the Department is, in terms of trying to maintain these very valuable resource in the Department as well as the people involved who have put in a tremendous amount of time and investment into setting them up and operating them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister clarify whether this strategic plan, unlike some others, will actually have dollars attached to it, the issue of formulas and standards that has been critical to this discussion? There are camp operators that are tying up their own savings, using all their own investments to maintain their camps. I appreciate the middle of December in terms of the strategic plan, but can the Minister indicate when the operators will be able to see some relief? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister for Justice, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fact that there are no standards for this program, that it is developed basically on an ad hoc basis. However, the concern is that there are camp operators, I believe, up and down the valley in the Northwest Territories that are struggling to provide a service that is deemed to be very valuable and beneficial to all concerned. I am concerned that there may be more victims, more closures of camps, while the government struggles to come to grips with the issues of standards and formulas and such. So, my question again to the Minister, is there any kind of relief, at least on a short-term basis, that can be provided to ensure that no more camps close as the government tries to get its house in order?

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister for Justice, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.