Thank you, Minister Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister is waiting for people to contact him, but I would just like to get assurance from the Minister that the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development will solicit response activity and work with the Northern Manufacturers' Association to make sure the Business Incentive Policy works for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, certainly that is our intention. That is the whole reason I undertook this somewhat difficult and a little bit daunting task of trying to revise the BIP because of all its implications for the industry. We most certainly will be looking at ways of involving everybody who has a stake in this one. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the statistics speak for themselves when it comes to delivering programs in the area of speech and language. No one is denying our educators are overworked. It is very apparent that addressing children's needs at an early age will have the greatest impact on improving communications skills. Would the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services explain what is currently being done by her department to assist in the staffing of a speech language pathologist for the South Slave area?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the strategic initiatives fund, there is $81,000 that has been given to the Hay River Health and Social Services Board specifically for a speech language pathologist. It is my understanding that they have been unable to utilize this funding in the last while due to problems with recruiting someone with those credentials. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in July of 2000, the community health board put in a proposal for an increase in their core funding to increase that program for a speech pathologist in the South Slave region. The health board had hoped to institute this program in September of 2000, but to date, Mr. Speaker, they have not had any consultation back from the health board whether their proposal has been denied or accepted for increased funding. Could the Minister indicate why her department has not responded to the request from the Hay River health board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have become aware that the Hay River Health and Social Services Board did put in a proposal to move funding for speech and language pathology to be a core part of their budget. They wanted core funding, not under this strategic initiatives funding. As to why this has not been responded to yet, it has been moving about within the department and I do apologize that a response has not been provided earlier. I will certainly look into ensuring that they get a full response to this request. Thank you.

Merci, Madam Groenewegen. Supplementary question, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Hay River Community Health Board proposed an increase in core funding, they indicated that a need for two speech language pathologists and two program aids to deliver programming for the South Slave region. Would the Minister indicate if her department would be prepared to provide funding for two speech language pathologists in order to adequately address the needs of the vast region of the South Slave?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not able to answer that request until I have an opportunity to discuss it with the people in my department. It is interesting to note that the $81,000 funding allotment and the strategic initiatives fund was not able to be utilized and not being utilized, we require it to be returned. That was due to the inability to identify someone to fill the position. But I will speak with my department, but I cannot respond to that request today. Thank you.

Thank you. Last supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that Hay River and the surrounding area has been without a permanent speech language pathologist since August of 2000. In view of that fact, I was wondering if the Minister could explain what her department is doing to help address the speech language problem in the south Slave in view of the fact that they have been without a speech language pathologist for that length of time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Madam Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, both the department and I feel that these are very beneficial services to have available. It is certainly unfortunate they have not been available recently within the last 18 months in the South Slave. I will commit to assist the board in trying to identify someone for this position under their current funding, perhaps through the recruitment and retention unit within the department. Thank you.

Merci, Madam Ministre. Questions orales. Les député de la Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with the part of the question that relates to comments from the department. However, the information as to where we get our traffic counts comes from the department's traffic counters.