Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions, the honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment and are in regard to student financial assistance.

Could the Minister indicate if or what latitudes students have, in terms of direct depositing the funds that they receive from student financial assistance? Are they limited to one or two institutions, or do they have the latitude to direct and ask that their money and funds be put into the financial institution of their choice?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is a detail that I am not familiar with, unless the Member is asking for direct deposit to their particular account. The department is moving on a system whereby students will be advanced funding on a monthly basis, and that will be deposited in their account on the first of every month.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good to hear that. I would just like some further clarification on that particular issue then. Are they going to be allowed to choose which financial institution the direct deposit will be made into, or are they forced to open accounts where they may not have a bank card just because the department intends to deal only with one or two banks? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have the answer to that question. I will have to take that part of the question as notice.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Oral questions, the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Excuse me, Mr. Krutko. Can you lead towards a question please? Preamble has already gone a minute and a half.

I am getting there.

-- Laughter

Because of these experiences, I feel that we have to do more as a government so it does not happen.

I would like to ask the Minister, what is the department doing to reunite families that have been put into foster care or put into group homes, or are finding themselves in young offenders' facilities?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the Member that the issue of children and family services is of very great importance to this government. We believe we have taken proactive measures, as a department, to address the issue of children who are at risk and do require to be put into care, either permanently or on a temporary basis.

As Members will remember from previous Sessions, we have taken the step of going out to the Child Welfare League of Canada to have a review done of the protocols and processes we have in place in the North for dealing with children who are at risk. We will be tabling that report here shortly. I am sure the Members will be very pleased at some of the recommendations. I will be looking for their support as we, as a government, try to find ways to re-profile and allocate more funds to the care of children. Certainly, I could not agree more that this is a major issue.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know a lot of parents have problems. What resources are there to assist parents to help them regain their children?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are resources available in communities surrounding community wellness, for counselling and services available to parents for parenting, to improve their parenting skills. Also, in many cases, parents are involved with a plan of care for their child while they are out of the home. They make commitments for what they might undertake to improve the situation, to enhance and expedite the return of their child to their care.

These initiatives are well known to the people who are on the frontline working in this field. Certainly, wherever possible, parents are encouraged to participate and assist in solving the problems which led to the removal of the child from harm in the first place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another area I feel is critical is in the cultural background of a lot of these children. I would like to ask the Minister, is the department working along with First Nation organizations with the aboriginal children that are being apprehended or relocated to different areas in the Territories? What is the role of aboriginal First Nations in the concentration of the department of those children?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is not always possible to place children in temporary placements in care where the foster parents are of the same culture, same language, same background, as the child in care.

As a department, we recognize the importance of involving the community in the plan of care and the actions that will be taken on behalf of the child and the family.

There are some impediments to this kind of thing because of the confidentiality often surrounding the issues which lead to the child being apprehended in the first place. However, I think there are proactive measures that we can take as a government to enhance the ability of, as you said, aboriginal governments and the community at large, to become more involved in addressing the problem.

Many times in small communities, there are issues of confidentiality, but most of the time in a small community, most people know what is going on anyway. So it seems kind of counterproductive to try and exclude people from being involved in helping to find viable solutions. I want to assure you, there are recommendations coming forward in the review of the child and family services legislation that speak about the involvement of the larger community in solving the issues. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give us a breakdown of how many children are presently in care and where these facilities are located? Are they in the North? Are they in southern institutions? Can we get a list of where these children are in foster care, group homes, and young offenders' facilities?