Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Krutko.

The concern I have is we have different health care programs or policies for different groups. Because one is a federal program or one is a Government of the Northwest Territories program, it still deals with health. They talk about the Metis health benefits where they have an insurance policy for health care for their members. Then you have the overall programs for residents of the Northwest Territories.

Why is there such a discretion between one program and another program without trying to find ways of streamlining, so they benefit everybody? I think that is a concern of a lot of people. There is a real discretion between status versus residents as a whole. That is why I would like to know as a government, what are we doing to try to top up a lot of these programs so they are getting the service that they need?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The items that are identified for status Indians and Inuit under the non-insured health benefits are not insurance coverage which are available for other people in the Northwest Territories, except for the Metis health benefit, which was identified by this government for the Metis people. However, these are not coverages which are available to just anyone. They are specifically related to treaty status. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Mr. Krutko.

That is the concern I have. With the changes to the Health Act, especially when it comes to status Indians, they have cut back to such a point that it is not really meeting the demand that is on it for the individual. People that get their eyeglasses, you have to wait for two years. If you break it, you are out of luck. Most people need their glasses. It is an essential service where you need something to do your work. If you cannot have it or you do not have the resources to purchase a new pair, you are out of luck.

The same thing with dental care. The dentist comes to our community. For $600, you might be lucky to get one tooth filled, but you might need a lot more work than that. It is a real concern to a lot of parents with children. With the limited access to dental care, especially all these communities, you have to go in when they either schedule it or book it in a community where you can only get to see a dentist once or twice a year. If you are lucky, you get that work done in that period. With children, the dental work is a lot more than just that amount you are allocating. That is where a lot of people are having problems. I think it is important we as a government make an attempt to find programs to assist in that area or find insurance or health policies that we can assist to carry that out.

Do you have a response to those comments, Madam Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to reiterate that the limitations that are set by the federal government, the things that they cover are a federal responsibility. I have offered to the Members to bring a representative from Health Canada to discuss these items with them, if they would like to take us up on the offer to organize that for them. Thank you.

We are on page 6-15, health insurance programs, budget summary, operations expense, total operations expense, $33,439,000.

Page 6-17, health insurance programs, grants and contributions, total contributions, $16,825,000.

Page 6-19, primary and acute care programs, budget summary. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, under this, it appears that over the past two years there has been growth of approximately 20 percent in the cost of medical travel. Can we get some comment from the Minister about what is being undertaken to try and control the growth in the cost of medical travel?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Madame Minister.

There is a lot of contributing factors to the forced growth in medical travel. The aging population, the fact that people are living longer as they age, that is when they become particularly dependent on the health care system.

The staff shortages when we have the high turnover rate and the recruitment and retention problems that we have been challenged with in the last couple of years. The confidence quite often at the community-regional level is not there to diagnosis and treat patients. So there is more medical travel associated with that. They may not know the medical history or be as comfortable with the medical history of the patients. Also, the increasing airfares that is being contributed and driven by the rising costs of fuel. All of these things together are causing quite a bit of forced growth in the medical travel.

As to what we are trying to do to address that, Members are aware of our efforts and some of our results under recruitment and retention, there is not much that we can do about the cost of air travel. However, we are trying to keep these costs under control. Thank you.

Thank you, Madame Minister. At this time I will recognize the clock and rise and report progress.

The House will come back to order. Item 21, report of the committee of the whole. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 19, Appropriation Act, 2001-2002 and Committee Report 7-14(3) and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the committee of the whole be concurred with.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Do we have a seconder for the motion? The Chair recognizes the honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen, who seconds the motion. The motion is in order. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Item 22, third reading of bills. Item 23, orders of the day. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until Friday, February 23rd at 10:00 a.m.

-- ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 6:00 p.m.