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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the Member for Thebacha more. I agree there has been a tremendous amount of studying done of the problems. I am certainly outspoken and on record with the previous government as undertaking that motto of "let's get on with it." We have asked so many questions. Let us start finding the answers.

Mr. Speaker, after the many reports that have been produced, which we will use, such as Shaping our Future: A Strategic Plan for Health and Wellness, the Med-Emerg Report, and now the Minister's Forum on Health and Social Services, we have enough documentation that we can use these as worthwhile tools in aiding us in getting on with it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I read this report, and after having talked with people as indicated, the department is targeted as a major part of the problem.

One of the concerns I have is that, since 1997, when we did all of the deficit reduction cuts, until today, based on the figures I have received from the Financial Management Board Secretariat, there has been an 11 percent increase to the headquarters for Health and Social Services in Yellowknife, in programs and frontline staff in Yellowknife. All other communities have shrunk back, yet there seems to be an inflation of the headquarters people in Yellowknife. Would the Minister indicate if, as part of this report, she will look to see whether or not that is the case? How does she intend to get the services and staff out to the people?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since being assigned the responsibility for Health and Social Services, I have had the opportunity to walk through the headquarters and look at some of the functions that are undertaken there.

Many of the functions I see being performed here are in support of things that are going on at the board level and the community level. For example, there is a group of people that is solely dedicated to board support. There are other functions, such as a recruitment and retention unit, which looks at helping boards find the workers they need and address those situations.

Another key function of the headquarters is tracking information so we may have a long-term, effective plan as to how we are going to address the problems. It is difficult to operate without that kind of information. It would be difficult to address the target areas. With respect to Mr. Miltenberger's claim that there has been an 11 percent increase in the cost of operating the headquarters, I would have to check into that. It is the first I have heard of that. I would also then want to compare it with the increases that may have occurred as well in the front-line programs at the community and regional level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that the Minister is going to check. You will find that there has been an 11 percent increase to the Health and Social Services staff at headquarters and about a 16 percent cut to all line staff across government, including Health and Social Services, that we have seen brought on by unfortunate inflation.

My supplementary question to the Minister is regarding governance. This report touches briefly on that, but is the Minister open to looking at supporting and encouraging communities and regions to look at alternate forms of governance, as opposed to just trying to strengthen or prop up the existing health boards? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes indeed, I am willing to look at alternate forms of governance. Right now, we do have nine health and social services boards in the Northwest Territories. They are quite different from each other. Some of them represent one community. Some of them represent an entire region. There is quite a variety of governance structures, and we would be looking at that.

Also, with a mind to the future, it may be worthwhile to look at governance structures where, like the Inuvik and the Dogrib structures, there is a combined board which deals with more than just health and social services. Where you have community services boards that in fact take on a broader array of responsibilities within that region. Some of those boards may also be a precursor to claimant and self-government structures that will be in place in the future. We want to make the board and governance structures as efficient and as standardized as possible so that they will be most effective. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would just like confirmation from the Minister that while she wants to have a standardized board structure, that a community or a region is not going to be forced or jammed with a possible system of board structure that does not fit their particular needs because it is deemed to be appropriate by some people. Keeping in mind the unique characteristics that we have talked about between the South Slave as opposed to the Dogribs. It cannot be the same for all people or all regions. I would like the Minister to commit that we will not be jammed. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me just clarify my commitment. My commitment is to look at board governance structures and arrangements that are in existence now to see if things can be made more effective. This will come from the regions. The operative word in my answer was that there may be a direction taken toward standardizing boards. I did not say that would be the case. It will not be done without considerable input from the people who will be governed by those boards. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is in relation to my Member's statement on the crisis that aboriginal languages are facing, in light of the opening of the French school in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment.

I would like to know: can the Minister tell this Assembly what funding arrangements were in place for the construction of the French school in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the arrangements were that the federal government would pay $3.5 million for the construction of the school, and the Government of the Northwest Territories contributed $500,000 for capital funding on this school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the statement by the Minister, I believe a precedence has been set by this great offer by the government in regards to the francophone school in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform the House how other communities, such as the Inuvialuit cultural communities, the Gwich'in, the Dogrib or Slavey communities, could access a similar type of funding or arrangement so they could build schools with a cultural base to protect aboriginal languages in those ridings?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some of the funding that is provided for operations is provided through a Canada-Northwest Territories Cooperation Agreement. It provides approximately $17.5 million over a five-year period, with $1.9 million being provided for aboriginal languages and $1.6 million for French language. This agreement is based on formulas used nationally, Mr. Speaker.

I should point out, Mr. Speaker, that in the Northwest Territories, many communities are governed by aboriginal people elected by the community to the district education council and the district education authorities. In many cases, the schools are culture-based, and schools have the option of implementing aboriginal language programming from kindergarten to grade three.

We do have two specific programs that have been developed to support aboriginal culture and language - the Dene Kede and Innuuqatigiit Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. Second supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister did not exactly answer my question. I would like to ask the Minister, especially in regard to the $500,000 that was used to construct the school in Yellowknife. Can the Minister tell us if other cultural communities can get block funding such as what was done in Yellowknife to build a cultural classroom facility to attach to existing school facilities? Thank you.