Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think a strategy is a great idea and I would urge the Minister that we cannot afford to wait. I hope the Minister will put this to the front burner and really start to push. Will the Minister put this to the highest priority and start to act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have an awful lot of strategies that we are working on right now, that have been recommended to us in motions, and certainly this one is important.

I really, truly believe the public service is our most important asset. This is important. We will get on with it as quickly as we can. I have talked to my staff about it and we intend to move this along as quickly as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, we have a lot of strategies, but not too many strategies like this, Mr. Speaker. If you follow me, good work costs money. This work costs so much money. It must be great work. Is this issue not too critical to wait? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I did not say we are waiting for anything, except just time to get at it. We are here, we are busy. My staff are busy. There is a holiday period coming up here, but as quickly as we can, within the next few weeks, I can tell you that we will actively be on this. There have been discussions in the department already about it, but in terms of getting right down to it and coming up with a product, it is going to take a few months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can live with a couple of weeks, so I am very happy to hear the positive response by the Minister and I look forward to seeing more on the strategy and the Public Service Commission. Thank you.

Thank you. There was no question there. It was just a compliment. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In his Member's statement, Mr. Lafferty alluded to the fact that we do have a significantly growing aging population in the Northwest Territories and it is going to be necessary and incumbent upon this government and this department to plan for the eventuality of those people passing on and requiring a significantly higher level of care during that time.

At the present time, in the Dogrib region and the communities which the Member represents, the people who do the home care programs support clients and patients with the provision of palliative care in the home with the support of the nurses from the health centre.

That is the way palliative care in those communities is delivered right now. Certainly, with varying cases and different types of illnesses, it is necessary in some instances to hospitalize people. At the request of the family or the patient, these services for people who are seriously ill are provided in Yellowknife.

As to when we might have increased or enhanced services available at the community level, Mr. Speaker, I could not project a time where that may be in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe there used to be something called compassionate travel that was available for family members when they had a loved one who was sick and they had to travel to where they were. This is not something that is available under the medical travel policy anymore.

In fact, there may be a need to have accommodation services for people other than the patient. I know we have boarding homes and facilities available for patients here in Yellowknife. I am not sure a patient in the hospital could have family members residing there, but I will look into the feasibility of having either some form of assistance or an actual physical location where family members could stay.

Certainly, Mr. Speaker, it is also our responsibility to ensure we live within our financial constraints. I do know among the communities in the North there are people who have family members, relatives, and friends in varying communities. We always appreciate when these people open their homes and have people stay with them during a time of sickness or crisis. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of whether there are any surplus housing units owned by the Housing Corporation in Yellowknife at this time. I could undertake to investigate that for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question to the Minister responsible for Finance. It arises from what he said when he introduced his special guest in the gallery. My question is, Mr. Speaker, is that his normal practice, to give the hospitality and thank the visitors from overseas by taxing them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. I just want to remind Members of the rules of questioning. They must not be hypothetical or trivial, vague, meaningless or frivolous, seek opinions or be argumentative. I am going to rule that question out of order. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.