Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I listened very intently this morning as the Minister of Health and Social Services presented her statement on the Health and Social Services System Action Plan. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that I am somewhat concerned by the tone that is expressed in the Minister's statement.

I hear point after point concerns about the operations of boards; boards represent a complex, fragmented system; accountability relationships are fractured and that it is difficult to enforce standards of care. The real concern, Mr. Speaker, is that as we go through this, it seems almost like the Minister is setting the stage. She has already decided that we do not need boards and should be moving to dissolve them.

I would urge the Minister to be very cautious about that, because I think the majority of people in the North do think that boards are worthwhile. I would point to the example of the education boards and how they seem to be working quite well with the Department of Education and the Minister of Education in order to accomplish the goals that are set for them in statute and by their constituents. I think that we can achieve the same if we find a way to better support the boards.

The way this statement was laid out today would tend to indicate that we maybe should have some concern about the report that the Minister has commissioned. We have had numerous reports done for this Legislative Assembly since the 12th Assembly that I am aware of, and very seldom has the Department of Health responded to the recommendations therein. Had they responded in a timely fashion earlier, I think we would not have had some of the problems we are facing right now, which I think are largely because the support to the boards has not been provided.

I would like to say that I hope this is not a situation where the Minister has already made up her mind and is moving towards eliminating boards, because I think that boards are made up of good people. People who need support to do an important job. They do not need thinly veiled accusations of incompetence. By and large, Mr. Speaker, they are volunteers who dedicate their time.

They also need to know that they can get a timely response from the department when they propose actions to bring their board's spending in line with the limitations set by the department. They need to know they are going to get a timely response when they propose an annual budget. They need to know they are going to get a timely response when they propose an action to eliminate some of their deficit, and not a continuous amount of study and a statement from the department that no one knows what the spending is.

We cannot wait until everything is done at the end of June. Boards need to know that they are going to be supported by the Department of Health now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause