Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member is right. Over the next couple of days, we are going to have the opportunity to go through more briefings and departmental overviews. He says questions are coming, and that is good because we all have a job to do. The job of the Ordinary Members is to express your opinions and ask the questions. The job of Ministers is the undertaking to get departments to answer those questions as best they can.
The Member once again makes reference to the long list of studies. I think there are about 180 recommendations in those combined studies. We have a large amount of material to deal with. I think this material effectively represents the opinion that is out there.
One of the things about the forum is that it does make the recommendations. It has a lot to do with process. The priority the Member speaks of when he says accountability and reporting back to the Legislative Assembly on the progress... one of the things that is not identified in the forum report is the clear targets with the ability for measurable results. I think we need to now take these documents and try to set clear targets.
If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. That is the kind of information I am hoping to help come up with by meeting with the Social Programs Committee and hearing from other Members.
It is good to evaluate the results and see whether or not we are receiving outcomes from our efforts. I do agree with the Member on that. I think we need to take this information and set some obtainable and clear targets so we can see whether or not we are reaching them.
The Member spoke about the integration of services at the community level. Taking that back a step further, I think we need to look at a more integrated approach. We have so many different funding sources for communities. The Member asked the written question today as to funding sources for boards. Just to give you an idea of some of the federally funded programs, Aboriginal Head Starts, AIDS Community Action program, Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, Community Action Program for Children, Population Health Fund, Community Animation Programming. There are all these different programs and funding sources, which amounts to millions of dollars.
I think what happens once the programs get down to the community level, the organizations build up around these certain directions. What we end up with at the community level are quite a number of interested organizations who, all in their own right, require administration and the ability to write funding proposals.
When I was in Fort Providence, I was able to get together with a large committee of people. They have said they want to coordinate their efforts at the community level so they can put more emphasis on workers to do the actual work, as opposed to the administrative function.
I think that is a realization communities are going to arrive at over the next while. Each of these NGOs and special committees that spring up at the community level generate a certain amount of economy in the community. There are jobs associated with them. I think it would be better to see if there is a way to pool those resources and the delivery of those resources, so we can avoid duplication. We certainly need every dollar we have to go to good results.
Another issue the Member raised is the number of consultants at headquarters. I will have to ask him for more specific detail on that issue. My impression is there certainly seems to be a good relationship between the boards and the department. But the Member may have to elaborate on further information if he feels things are to the contrary.
I appreciate the Member has a long history of not only working in the social field and health field, but also three years on the Social Programs Committee. He would be in a good position to have made observations that some of the rest of us would not be, because we worked on different envelope committees. That is all I have to say in response to Mr. Miltenberger's opening remarks. I look forward to meeting with him on Wednesday when he chairs the Social Programs Committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.