Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Next on the list, I have Mr. Leon Lafferty, the Member for North Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member raises the issue of elected boards. That is certainly something that could be considered. It could potentially address the issue of people feeling they are not represented by boards. That is something we hear through the forum's report. It would make those boards more accountable to the people they serve. It would be a democratic process. Under the area of governance, the potential for elected boards is definitely there and is something we will be considering.

The Member raises the issue of services being provided in the local language, in his case, the Dogrib language. When we talk about healthcare workers, I think this is another strong argument for training the people from the communities to acquire the skills they need to go back to their communities and deliver those services.

Over the years I have been in the North, I have not heard of too many non-aboriginal persons picking up a second language, particularly an aboriginal language. It is unusual. The language barrier could be addressed through our efforts to train a northern workforce. It could address that problem. I recognize it is a real problem. The Member speaks of the elder in the hospital not knowing what services the hospital wants to provide. I know there are language services provided to patients who are in the hospital, but I could not say how extensive those services are. When you are dealing with someone's health, it is very important they understand what the options are and what is happening to them. I agree with the Member that communication is extremely important.

I think one of the best ways of dealing with this problem is to have our own Northerners trained to do these jobs. This should be a long range goal, one in which we have made some serious advances through our bursaries, the programs available at Aurora College, and through attendance at job fairs to encourage young people to go into the health and social services fields. It should not just be for positions as social workers and nurses. We need to look at all areas in all professions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Minister. I have Mr. Delorey, the Member for Hay River North.

The Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, a number of issues the Member touched on have been previously covered. A new issue which was raised is the existence of infrastructure. Some of the things which effect the use of these facilities is the amount of utilization, say like a hospital in Hay River, which was set up with extended care and acute care wings. If we lose an anaesthetist in Hay River, that shuts down the surgery part of the hospital. The utilization of the infrastructure is connected to the staffing. When a facility becomes under-utilized, then we have good infrastructure sitting there that is not being used. That should be a concern of this government.

I agree with the Member that we could look at specialities in certain areas. For example, I know in Hay River, surgery facilities are used for dental cases that come from out of the community and out of the region. That is one area, but there are certainly other different focuses we could bring to some of these buildings we have invested money in.

Another area of speciality is palliative care. We have an opportunity here in the North to regionalize or bring into one central place people who are requiring special care, who are perhaps in the late stages of terminal illness. A place where they receive specialized treatment and be close to their loved ones at a time when they are going through the last stages of their life.

The Member raises the issue of medical travel and the situation he refers to when he says some people have everything paid and others have nothing. We have an interesting situation in Hay River where the deductible amount is $250, which in fact gets you to most services which are available here in Yellowknife.

When you are implementing a deductible, and it happens to be the amount it costs to get to the service, it is not very much help to people. The Member is right. If you work for a large company, you have medical coverage. Or if you work for the government, or if you qualify under various aboriginal programs. This leaves out a segment of the population, which we would call the working people. These are people who do not have the higher wages or most substantial benefits. It is unfortunate. I have discussed this with the department already. I have wondered if we might develop some form of co-payment, which is based on a percentage of the cost of the travel as opposed to the full amount, which is unique probably only to Fort Smith and Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Minister. We are dealing with Tabled Document 14-14(2). It is the final report of the Minister's Forum on Health and Social Services. I have Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have a number of concerns with this particular report. One of them is regarding medical travel in my riding. Many of the people that would take an opportunity to access medical travel are concerned because of the availability of the service, because so many concerns have been expressed about the cost of medical travel. They believe steps have been taken and it is almost a situation where you have to be very seriously ill before they allow you to leave the community.

Of course, that reflects on how well you can be diagnosed by the nurses or by travelling physicians. People do not have the ability to go back and forth to the nursing stations or to see the doctor, except on a monthly basis. Therefore, they are very concerned they do not have the ability to see specialists. For one, it may be another month before the travelling physician comes back to the community. And will you be able to be medivaced if your condition deteriorates and the weather is permitting? People are very concerned about how you actually made the criteria for medical travel. I think Health and Social Services has to have another look at this medical travel criteria in respect to how it applies to outlying small communities.

I also have some comments to make to regional boards and the representation on the regional boards. I believe some other Members have brought some similar concerns to that board members are now appointed rather than being elected, and they are appointed specifically by aboriginal groups rather than the communities.

People get concerned as to how you make these boards accountable if the representative is not accountable. Furthermore, there is no suggestion as to how board members are supposed to travel to the communities they represent. Do they have a budget? Do they have a work schedule that the public is aware of? That the communities are aware of? I have four communities that are represented by the Inuvialuit representative on the Beaufort board, but she also represents two other communities. Now this person has the opportunity to hold meetings in her home community, but I do not know how she is supposed to get to the outlying communities. We have never seen her budget. We have never seen her workplan. As a matter of fact, some of my communities have a hard time remembering having seen her. It becomes a question of accountability. How could you possibly expect the communities to bring their concerns to the board if they do not see the board member? Obviously, they would be expected to write and mail in their concerns.

The question that remains is the MLA not also responsible for these types of concerns? The fact of the matter is, Mr. Chairman, the MLA really has to reply to the community. I can take it to your board or I can take it to your department but, as one of the Members here suggested already, the department responds by saying I have to take it back to the board and see what they have done. It becomes a question of who is responsible for what.

Another example is the new hospital facility being designed and supposedly in the plans for Inuvik. The hospital is supposed to serve all communities in the Beaufort. Recently, I was in touch with four of my hamlets and their executives. They say they are not aware of the plans. They have never seen the plans. They have not seen the design for that hospital and I can tell you, as an MLA, I have not either. I have been here for five years. I have not seen the design.

I am aware this hospital has reached a point where it is in the request for proposal stage, yet the communities are not aware of what the design of that hospital is. That suggests there should be some more cooperation between the boards and the communities they represent.

I am also not aware of what the input is to the boards as other Members have expressed. What are the boards doing for the seniors? There is a suggestion this hospital will address some of the seniors' concerns and some of the seniors' needs, but I am concerned as to who represents all of the seniors at a regional level. Who is addressing the needs of the seniors in each community in my riding, for instance? Right now, I am aware the communities have taken it on themselves to individually request senior facilities because nobody seems to be doing this on a regional basis. My communities are also very concerned that if they had done it on a regional basis, the big communities would get everything first and everybody else would come second. That is the concern expressed by my communities. Mr. Chairman, I really think there has to be some accountability by these boards. If we cannot make them accountable, do we have the political will to take the responsibilities back to the department level? That is the question. Are we going to make these boards more accountable or are we not?

That is part of this whole study. I think that if you look back at every one of these studies that were done, the problems were all related to how do we make our boards and agencies accountable. It seems like we do not have the critical will to do it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Minister Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Steen's comments and opinions and they are noted. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Just a reminder to the Members here, you should show some respect to the other Members when they are asking questions. It is hard to hear them asking questions to the Minister. I would also ask that you keep the chitter chatter down to a minimum. So, with that, I would like to recognize Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Chairman, the issue is past. I do not have any further comment on it at this point. I would like to move that we report progress.

There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order. The motion is not debatable. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. We will rise and report progress.

The House will come back to order. Item 20, report of committee of the whole on the review of bills other matters. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 14-14(2), Our Communities, Our Decisions: Let's Get on With It!, The Final Report of the Minister's Forum on Health and Social Services, and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move the report of the committee of the whole be concurred with.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Is there a seconder for the motion? The Chair recognizes The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland, as the seconder. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Item 21, third reading of bills. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker,

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act No. 3, 1999-2000, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act No. 3, 1999-2000 has had third reading. Item 21, third reading of bills. Item 22, orders of the day. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. This House stands adjourned until Tuesday, February 29, 2000 at 1:30 p.m.

--ADJOURNMENT