Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure the department can find the time to go to Aklavik and meet with the Aklavik residents on the project in the next couple of months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Oral questions. The Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister responsible for Health. It is regarding the Child and Family Services Program Review that has been underway for years. The Minister has indicated they have brought in another southern contractor to try to do a considerable amount of work in two months. Given the Members', as I clearly recollect, vigorous opposition to the Med-Emerg Report, the Ministers' Forum on Education, the Ministers' Forum on Health, could the Minister indicate what kind of northern experience the Child Welfare League of Canada has in being able to, in two months time, blanket the Northwest Territories to answer all the comprehensive questions, conditions and terms outlined in the terms of reference? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review the Member speaks of is a review that was undertaken by the Child Welfare League of Canada. This is a nationally recognized organization for child welfare. Recently, within the last couple of years, we have had it changed to the Child Welfare Act. The department, I am sure along with the Minister of the day, felt that it would be worthwhile to have a review of the child welfare practices and policies of this government. Having said that, I cannot speak too extensively to the credentials of the Child Welfare League, but I do have an information sheet here for all Members outlining the cost of the review, the communities that were visited, and also the groups that were consulted with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister possibly talk to the issue of the time frames? When you look at the terms of reference, this was started in December over Christmas and was supposed to be completed by the end of January. They were supposed to hit about eight communities, talk to dozens and dozens of people, including professional stakeholders and community leaders.

The issues of their northern credibility and experiences factors into this, and I know the Minister said she cannot speak to that, but to me it is a critical issue. Can they be expected to, in fact coming from the south as the contractors for the Med-Emerg report were criticized for being southerners and be able to do this kind of comprehensive, detailed work in a unique jurisdiction? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, the Member is right. This is a unique jurisdiction. However, the issues related to child welfare are issues which are faced by every other part of Canada. I would safely say that the Child Welfare League of Canada is an organization which is dedicated specifically to undertaking system-wide reviews of child welfare practices to ensure consistent standards of performance and outcomes and that best practices are achieved. I would say that this organization would be experts in this field. With respect to the time frame in which they operated, I can see they have certainly interviewed and spoken with a very broad cross-section of Northerners. We certainly look forward to hearing the results of the review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Second supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is interesting to note that the Minister is clearly of the opinion that northern experience and knowledge of the North is not a critical factor when examining children and the services that we provide to children in the North. Could the Minister, for the record, tell us on this information sheet that we have yet to see, what this contract costs? Was it put out to tender? Or was it just sole-sourced? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost of the review is $110,000. I do not have the information as to how the contract was let, or whether or not it was a sole-source contract. I do not want to make an assumption on that, so I will get that information for the Member and get back to him. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister also indicate, since this Child and Family Services Review has been going on for years, what is the total cost of the review? Not just this high-priced one-month, two-month contractor from the south, but what was the overall cost of the review undertaken by the department? When do we get to finally see this document we have been waiting so long for? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. There were two questions there. The Minister can decide which one she wants to answer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will choose to answer the one on the overall cost. Given the level of detail the Member is asking for, I of course cannot provide that answer, but will undertake to speak with the department and find out what the overall cost was. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I made reference to getting more information out to the public regarding the situation we find ourselves in as the 14th Assembly. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Finance, if the fiscal situation has changed since the beginning of the election. For example, Mr. Speaker, it was said that we were 18 months away from hitting our credit limit or debt wall, as it has become known. I would like to know from the Minister responsible for Finance if that situation has changed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Minister responsible for Finance, the Honourable Joe Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, to my knowledge, that situation has not changed. We still are in the same situation we were a month ago. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform us if in fact the time line has shrunk? The 18 months was given prior to the election, so has that come down as well? Are we in the range of 14 months, 12 months, 10 months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.