Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Premier. It follows up on some questions that were asked last week by Mr. Braden about the Northwest Territories Family Counselling Services. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Family Counselling Services provides many important services and programs for the community, such as family life education and community support for family advocacy.
The cuts they will take now as a result of the change in this governments' contracting on the Employee and Family Assistance Program will effect programs at the YWCA, the Women's Centre, the Aboriginal Community Healing Circle, and individuals in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, with the recent awarding of the contract for the GNWT Employee and Family Assistance Program to a new consortium that is twice the cost of the proposal the Northwest Territories Family Counselling Services had offered, they have now lost a good portion of their funding. They will be about $140,000 short for the coming fiscal year.
I would like to ask the Premier if he will commit to finding funding that would allow Northwest Territories Family Counselling Services to continue to offer these crucial programs to the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.