Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the social statement we are looking at today outlines some very important goals as a territorial government. As we heard earlier, there is some question as to how we are going to map out these goals and how we are going to achieve some of this.

In the first page of the statement that speaks on with division behind us, we need to move quickly out of the starting gate with renewed vision and commitment. As the Premier stated in Fort Providence, they have started to work along those lines. I think, in a sense, my interpretation of what happened there is that it was in line with the New Agenda for the New North and how we are going to map that out.

As we get into the budget sessions, we will start to work on some of these issues. It does cover a lot of areas and some areas of importance that I think we need to spend more time on as a government and put some emphasis behind how we will achieve them.

Now we know most people in the Northwest Territories do not like the idea of being told their lifestyles are dysfunctional and are costing taxpayers a lot of money. We have to make sure we try to heal the families and the dysfunctional groups that are out there.

I know it is a difficult task, finding out how we try and get families to lead a more balanced lifestyle. I do believe it starts at this level, by setting the example for our children to follow. As I see it, I know a lot of the goals that we are going to outline as the 14th Assembly are not going to be ones that we can measure in one year or two years. I think it will take possibly a whole term to see some results, to see a positive impact. I think these are areas where we are going to have to put some attention to.

As the previous Minister of Health and Social Services, it is amazing the amount of dollars we spend on putting out the fires or the crises that come by day to day. So it is important that we try to put some of the limited resources we have to work at trying to focus on prevention, not putting out the fires. That will mean some serious work, as I stated earlier in my Member's statement.

We are going to have to get down to it and make some serious decisions on the future of the Northwest Territories when it comes to the impact we will have and what we will leave our children with. I believe when it comes to families and how families operate in the Northwest Territories, that will go a long way to how effective we will be in preparing the future generations. We have to set the stage for them to be able to pick up the gauntlet and carry it forward.

Another area worth getting out in the open is the area of government itself and the systems we operate under. We know there are eight tables around the Northwest Territories that include some form of self-government, whether it be community self-government or regional self-government.

For example, in the Beaufort Delta area there is a partnership motto that they have been promoting. We have the one the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs tabled today, the Dogrib, which is more a parallel system. We have very diverse interests throughout the Northwest Territories. Those diverse interests will impact on how we can deliver services and what is left of a public government system.

In light of our fiscal situation, we must inform the residents and all those groups that are at the negotiation table of the difficulties we will face if we continue to go down separate paths. When you put all the dollars together that we spend on administration versus program service delivery, that area alone can be interpreted a number of ways. For example; all the funding that goes to non-government organizations are categorized as program service delivery. In fact, just about every non-government organization out there has an executive director and an assistant or something of that form. That takes up the delivery dollars. In this day and age, can we afford to have that many groups out there doing similar work?

Some areas you have to keep separate, some areas we are going to have to see if there are enough common interests that combinations can be formed. That is an area that we have spoke of in the past, Mr. Chairman.

I believe that if we are going to be able to measure some of our work that is being done, it will be difficult to do so in the first year. For example, making these comments in this House on some of the cost drivers we find ourselves under is an important step. I must applaud the Premier for being so bold to state some of our biggest problems are those that he listed in his sessional speech.

Now the important part is how do we deliver that in a consistent and effective way? It is pretty hard medicine to swallow when people speak directly about their families. We all get defensive about issues being brought up about our own particular families. It is not easy. We have gone through, as a generation in the Northwest Territories, a lot of change in a short time. I have made statements in this House regarding the change. We can look at some of our elders today. The style of life they lived when they were young men and women growing up in the Northwest Territories is light years from how we do it today.

When my father was a young man, he traveled with a dog team. On a trip from Sachs Harbor to the Delta, that took a long time. To stop at nights was a matter of setting up snow houses. Today, we jump on a plane and it is a couple of hours. We have gone from one extreme to another. Lifestyles that used to be affordable when the first fur trading industry was strong are no longer affordable. Trying to keep your family linked to their cultural history is a difficult task, as we heard today. The language portion is disappearing on us. That is something we have to see how we can correct.

There has been some work done in the areas of transferring responsibility to communities, but again, as I stated in my Member's statement earlier, transferring those responsibilities or the idea of it is important, but how far can we go? We seem to hold the final decision-making power at the headquarter level. We are almost duplicating the work that needs to be done. Either we will transfer responsibilities and requirements to fulfill those responsibilities or maybe it is just best to keep them at headquarters and reduce the duplication.

I know myself, and speaking for residents of Inuvik, I would rather not see the regions and communities lose more in this process. We all know at the end of the day to make a big difference and set the stage for the future of our children, it is going to take a lot of hard work on our behalf. I do not envy the position that we as decision-makers face. In a sense, especially Cabinet, we see the answer for all of us to the public. This is nice to say, but we now have to convert to action. How do we do that in the short time we have and have some measurable outcomes? I think that is the $700 million dollar question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.