Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other area that I touched on earlier is the FAE/FAS problem in our communities and the thing is that it is having a major problem, especially in our education system and also within the communities. Again, we need the resources in the communities to deal with these problems. It is children in the communities that we are seeing with these effects. Because it is having an effect on our communities and in the education system that is there, more resources have to be put into this area in light of the concerns. We seem to be funding a lot of organizations out there to do all these different tests or programs or what not, but if you are not associated with that organization, you are not associated with that particular group, it leaves you out of the loop. We are here to represent all of the people of the Northwest Territories, not just a few specific special interest groups that this government feels they have the ability to fund.

There are other groups out there having to deal with children with regard to community-based groups, yet they are not being given the resources or the dollars to carry out that responsibility when it comes to FAE/FAS. In a lot of our communities, it is a real major problem. What is the Minister doing to ensure resources for FAE/FAS to deal with that problem in our communities are in our communities and not just given to a few interest groups?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member refers to groups that we partner with in trying to deliver our programs and we do find that it is advantageous to us as a department to partner with community groups and NGOs, because usually they bring with them a fair amount of people who are involved in the community first-hand and they also harness the resources of volunteers in a lot of instances. We really feel that when we partner with various groups that we get value added for what we are trying to achieve.

As far as what we are doing on the FAS/FAE front, my Minister's statement today in the House spoke to the early childhood development initiative, which we are committing significant resources to as a government. Some of the activities taking place under FAS/FAE, if I could just identify some of them for the Member. Eight communities, Fort Good Hope, Lutselk'e, Fort Providence, Wha Ti, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Yellowknife and Tuktoyaktuk are all participating in early childhood screening for developmental delays. The screening assists in early identification of children affected by alcohol before birth and other conditions. As I stated in my statement today, early identification is recognized as a strong protective factor for children with FAS/FAE.

There's also the FAS/FAE public education campaign that we are undertaking in partnership with the Status of Women Council and the Native Women's Association. This is a public education campaign focusing on the root causes of why women drink. The campaign has consisted of two television public service announcements, presentation folders, bookmarks, fridge magnets and a poster.

Mr. Chairman, there's also been a survey of Northwest Territories license outlets. They were surveyed to establish which points of sale offer pregnant patrons alcohol-free beverages free of cost. It was determined that the majority, 41 out of 44, licensed outlets did not provide this option and staff were unaware of the benefits of promoting alcohol-free pregnancies. In addition, licensed outlet operators interviewed did not consider this issue to be their responsibility or area of concern. So there's a lot of awareness that needs to be created in that area as well.

There is also my participation as a Minister, in the Prairie Northern Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Partnership. As Ministers of various portfolios, we get together. The Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, along with the three Prairie Provinces, get together and collaborate on our efforts so we can build on some of the research and program activity that the larger provinces have more money to pour into and we are able to benefit from those as well.

There is a fetal alcohol syndrome video that was put together by the department and assisted by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. This is also a useful tool in creating awareness about the prevention of FAS.

I could go on with other programs, but suffice it to say, Mr. Chairman, without making the answer too long, there are quire a number of initiatives that are going on within the department right now to address the issue of FAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Minister. General comments? Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the list that the Minister mentioned, I do not believe she mentioned any of the communities I represent. So, there again, that program is not being delivered to all communities. That is the problem that I have with the way this department is operating. It serves some communities, but it does not serve all communities and I think that is a problem that has to be looked at.

I think it is also imperative that a lot of the aboriginal communities have lost faith or lost trust within this government when it comes to depending on this government to deal with problems in our communities, especially relating to alcohol and drugs and FAS.

A lot of communities have turned to the federal government because of the reluctancy of this government to deal with those problems in a lot of our small aboriginal communities.

So in regard to the issue I mentioned yesterday, in regard to trying to eliminate the barriers between different providers of alcohol and drug programs and front-line staff that are being affected in our communities, I will use an example. In Fort McPherson, we have the Tl'oondih Healing Society upstairs in a building, and downstairs we have the alcohol and drug programs and both of them are doing their own thing. However, a lot of the funds that the Tl'oondih healing program gets, they work along with the band councils and the tribal councils, where they access federal dollars to carry out a lot of their programs and services.

So we are having duplicate services being provided by two agencies within one community. The same thing applies to the other smaller communities where the resources that you get, say in Aklavik, for alcohol and drug workers, they cannot sustain staff or people to carry out those programs because for the resources they are getting based on a per capita distribution, which is being done by the Inuvik Regional Health Board. You cannot serve your clients in the community with those limited resources and be able to carry out the program.

So you are damned if you do and you are damned if you do not because you do not have the resource people or you do not have the resources.

So I think it is important that, as a government, we need to start to find ways of taking down those barriers between those two groups and have them work in conjunction with each other, instead of against each other, or participating like it is a horse race, where you are trying to get across the finish line, or resource dollars, before the other guy does.

So, as a department, I would like to know if you have looked at the whole area ensuring that the front-line workers and staff are working in conjunction with other providers within the communities and also within the government?

You seem to be doing a lot of studies and research and reports going out to different interest groups, but I do not see anything coming back from the aboriginal community.

I am just wondering, is there a particular reason that you are not working closer with the aboriginal community, tribal councils, agencies that are out there? Is that because this government feels that since we are not funding them, we do not have to deal with them? It is an Ottawa problem, not a Northwest Territories problem?

Could the Minister tell me, why exactly does there seem to be a lack of aboriginal input into your resources and studies that are going on today?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to refer that question to Mrs. Ballantyne. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mrs. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Ms. Ballantyne. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With boards and agencies, everyone knows the decisions made where policies are being developed, and I think what we are hearing from this government when it comes to non-insured health benefits that there seems to be a real lack of understanding from the government's view; they think this is just a federal program and because we are not making money on it, we are losing money that maybe we should give it back.

I think we are starting to lose sight. This program has been there for several years and a lot of money was taken out of this program which was not given to the aboriginal community. This government used it in-house to fund other programs and it was there to top off other programs in the past and yet now, because of the federal programs, we have seen a real major effect in our communities where aboriginal people are being told now, "Well sorry, you are a status Indian" or what not. That you are going to get $600 on your dental care. You can only get one set of glasses.

This government seems not to be enhancing the programs but we are delivering it on the basis, "Well sorry, we are losing money here. We cannot assist you." I think for a lot of people, especially in dental care, it is going to cost you a lot more then $600 to deal with a problem, especially with a lot of our children. When you start looking at the cost of dental care in the North, you cannot get much done for $600, especially if you only get to see the dentist once or twice every two years.

There again, I think that this government should be enhancing those programs instead of taking the position that they do not support what is, in regard to the aboriginal programs that we administer on behalf of Ottawa.

I know for a fact that in the past, there has been monies taken out of this program, when it was used for alcohol and drug programs. It was used for other initiatives, in regard to the Tl'oondih program. A lot of the dollars that were spent on that program came out of this fund because the government was not going to put their own money into it because it was an aboriginal-based program and that they were going to use those dollars to offset that cost.

If the Minister wants, I can give her that information, because that was something that I requested in this House and I got that information.

So I would like to know, is the Minister willing to enhance aboriginal programs or enhance the health and well-being of aboriginal people? Or will we continue to treat them as second-class citizens when it comes to programs and funding from this government?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the non-insured health benefits is specifically for the things which I have been discussing in the House over the last couple of days in response to questions. Those things, and those things alone, are funded through the NIHB.

There are other programs, which Mr. Krutko might be referring to, but I am going to ask Mrs. Ballantyne to identify what other program that Mr. Krutko might be referring to. However, I do assure the Members that the money received from the federal government for the non-insured health benefits has only been spent on that list of things that we identified earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mrs. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mrs. Ballantyne. General comments. Are there any other Members with general comments?

What is the wish of the committee? Detail.

Mr. Krutko, did you have your hand up again?

We will go on to detail. Health and Social Services, directorate and corporate services.

Budget summary. Total operations and expense, $25,926,000.

Page 6-10. We are on page 6-10. The directorate and corporate services budget summary. Operations and expense, total operations and expense, $25,926,000.

Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask some questions and this looks like the place to do it, under detail, under the recruitment and retention strategy.

The committee was provided some information, but also there was a comment made earlier, a couple of days ago, that this particular strategy is under review right now.

If the Minister could elaborate on this relatively new strategy; the review, who is doing it, how long is it going to take considering the amount of money that is invested here and the, of course, important focus of retention of doctors and nurses? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.