Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My comments are going to relate to the operation of Health and Social Services boards of management. I am encouraged that the Minister says that she wants to report to this House that health and social services are working well. I think that we all want to hear that report and fairly soon.

It sounded to me in her response to Mr. Miltenberger like she was not catching what he was trying to say. It was that we have an example where one department seems to have a very collegial relationship with boards. I know as recently as five years ago that the department in that case was very concerned about whether or not boards would be able to really provide the services here because almost every single one of them five years ago was in a significant deficit situation. However, by working supportively with boards, that has been turned around. All of the boards are now in a surplus situation and I think there may be a model there to take a look at.

I think that is really what we are saying. There may be ways to improve on the administration on how boards are doing it. I think we need to also take a look at how this government and the department in particular relates to boards.

I appreciate too that the Minister says she does not want to discourage volunteers who contribute to the administration of boards. I know that we have discussed at the committee level. It is something that concerns me. Because of the frustrations that I am sure a number of board members must feel in those boards in particular that are in deficit right now, the whole process for trying to deal with those deficits, the whole process for trying to get budget approved and I think there is a real problem here.

I was very concerned when I heard the Minister, in her statement on Friday, say that she was not expecting to have final answers in terms of how to deal with the boards and their deficits until June. I think that is way too long. I think that people have gone through most of this year without actually having an approved budget. I know that we have had some discussion about this, about whether or not we have approved budgets for all of the boards right now. In fact, the boards do not know whether or not they are going to have to recover the entire amount of deficit that they are building up this year. So I would say that by my definition, they do not have approved budgets if they do not know what portion of the deficit is liable to be covered and what portion is not.

I think that it is going to get more and more difficult to keep good volunteers working on these boards if they know that for a period of more than a year they are going to go without knowing just what the future holds in terms of the administration.

When we are having trouble recruiting, I think it makes it very difficult for the teams to generate a positive atmosphere around the health facilities, because the people at those facilities are concerned about the decisions the boards might have to make. If they are in fact going to have to recover entirely from these deficits from within the amount of funding that is being provided, it is going to mean dramatic cuts to programs.

I know the Minister has said that no cuts will be permitted that impact on patient services or services to the public, and I appreciate that commitment. I think the board members are increasingly frustrated because they do not see any possible way that they can in fact recover from those deficits without impacting on patient services.

I think that we are in a situation where we put a lot of dedicated volunteers on a number of boards in a situation where I am sure that they are about ready to throw up their hands and quit. I think that would be a very sad day if that were to happen. I think we could lose a lot of good experience.

I would like to ask the Minister if there is not some way in which we could deal with these situations. First, let us take a look at the Stanton board. We know that the board has been told by the department that closure of the surgical ward has not been approved. That was proposed as one measure that would have saved the board approximately $300,000 in a year.

Has the department told the Stanton board that at least that much funding will be added to their budget to allow them to continue the operation of that ward? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.