Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That has not been scheduled as of yet, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have some residential treatment facilities in the Northwest Territories, as I have stated in this House before, the Nats'ejee K'eh treatment centre in Hay River. The Hay River reserve has 30 beds and there is also the availability of six beds here in Yellowknife through the program offered at the Salvation Army.

As far as southern placements go, we do also have allocations for communities for southern treatment funding, and as well, there is some money under a federal program for the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program and some of that is allocated to augment southern placement services for First Nations people. There is quite a broad range of services that are available for people who do have alcohol addictions, and I just briefly referred to the specifics of residential treatment, but there certainly are other supports out there as well. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department devolves money to community and regional boards specifically for treatment for addictions and it would then be up to those specific communities or regional boards to apply the policy that they would see fit in terms of appropriate placements for constituents who may be applying to partake in treatment. As to whether the department has a specific policy with respect to cultural-specific treatment, we do not have an overlying policy, but we certainly encourage the boards to use their money as effectively as possible. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. I sense that there are two parts to the question. The Minister can choose to answer the one she chooses. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the first part of Mr. Nitah's question is, do we give enough to boards to address these particular needs that he refers to. Probably the answer to that question is, not as much as we would like and probably not as much as needed, but as much as, I suppose, within the restraints of our financial realities here in the North.

Are there funds that boards could access on a supplementary basis if there was a greater need in the community or there was a board that recognized that there was a greater need in the community? Each board is tasked with coming up with a budget and identifying where they need financial resources in terms of health and social services in their communities. That is done on an annual basis. I would suggest that if communities or regions are turning away an unusual amount of people who are seeking help, that may be a process where that could be identified. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

That was a comment more than a question. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in my Member's statement, I made reference to the problems facing the fur garment manufacturing industry, and it was my understanding, up to last year we had three companies operating in the North producing fur garments. As of March of this year, they were all forced to close down. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, why did these companies have to close their doors?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The question is directed to the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure to which companies the Member is referring. I can think of two that have closed their doors. The one in Fort Providence has closed because one of the main partners has decided that she no longer wants to be part of the organization and is selling back her shares. I understand that the Community Betterment Corporation is now working with the department and with the Northwest Territories Development Corporation to try to restructure it and have that one going again. The other one in the Delta is temporarily closed and I am not really familiar with the reasons why that one has closed at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

I would like to ask the Minister, as a result of all of these businesses closing at least in the past eight months, how many jobs have we lost between the three companies? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to quickly do an assessment of exactly how many jobs have been lost. I would suspect that between the three of them, and again not knowing exactly which three he is referring to, we have probably lost somewhere between 10 and 20 direct jobs. In addition to that, we have also lost the indirect employment that these manufacturing plants create. Again, that is very difficult to measure, but I want to assure the House that we do support the fur manufacturing industry and we are doing everything we can in Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and through the Northwest Territories Development Corporation to have a viable fur manufacturing, a value-added industry in the North. There are challenges in doing that, but we are working with the communities that are interested to try and maintain a good quality fur product manufacturing industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.