Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for that answer and I would just like to reconfirm. I think I heard the Minister say there will be no actions taken in the near future on any of the recommendations that have been put forward. I would just like a commitment from the Minister that he will come to Hay River and meet with the board and all parties involved to address these issues before any actions are taken on any of the proposals that have been put forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do commit to come to the community of Hay River and meet with the health board and the community leadership. We will have to sit down with the Member to look at a time. There are 30-some communities that I would like to visit. I would like to go to all the health boards. There are a number of those but I will definitely be in Hay River before the 90 days is up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not quite hear the Minister say that all proposals that have been put forward will be put on hold until he has had such time to consult with the interested parties. Would he make that commitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to restate, the final plan that I intend to table in 90 days has to have clear and concrete actions and the support of Cabinet, MLAs, the department, the boards and the public. So that plan has not been to Cabinet, does not exist in any kind of final form. There will be no changes to the systems until we can get that plan put together and agreed to and brought to this House and run by my colleagues and get the support we need to do the best things possible to reform the health care system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. It concerns the area of modernizing our legislation for municipalities. I have learned, Mr. Speaker, that this government undertook that work way back in 1995 and by 1997, a number of amendments were acted on. The second phase of that review concerns a very large piece of work, known as the Municipal Statutes Amendment Act. The progress on that has not been as rapid. In fact, I think glacial might be the word for it, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister advise the House of the status of modernizing the Municipal Statutes Amendment Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the current status of that is presently it has gone back to Cabinet and will be forwarded to the Department of Justice for drafting. Mr. Speaker, the drafting may take as long as 12 to 18 months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the time the act has been in progress, there has been consultation with the municipalities. Is it realistic now to suggest that we could be looking at a year-and-a-half, which in effect is perhaps the end of this Assembly, as an effective time frame? What is the hold- up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, in my briefing this morning with the deputy minister and his colleagues, the apparent problem is with the resources, human resources, or the time the legal people can dedicate to this specific amendment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay. One of the aspects that I am aware of that is costing this government money is the lack of modern language in the act as it refers to the liability in insurance coverage.

In discussions with city representatives here in Yellowknife, I have learned that the cost of simply not having good language may be as much as $500,000 a year to the Assembly to cover this shortfall.

Given that we might be losing out on these resources from the outgoing side, does it not make sense that we bring in some resources to speed this process up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, that is the intention of the department, to see if we can secure more help in this area. Perhaps we can then have it move a little faster than we anticipate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister be able to commit that he will go out to the municipalities to readdress this really quite disappointing delay and see if there is anything that those governments can do in partnership with us to help advance this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am prepared to go through the NWTAM to communicate back to the membership that we will try to pursue this and see if we can put more emphasis on that amendment. Thank you.