Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister please indicate if his department has any statistics on the number of individuals or groups who access public weather information on a regular basis from Nav Canada prior to CARS taking over? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Minister Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware that we have this information, but I can pass this request on to the department to see what we can come up with to assist the Member in identifying just how much the public was using this form of information to get weather forecasts. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Your last supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of our hunters and trappers live in remote settlements and they do not have access to a telephone, radio or Internet access for weather forecasts. Would the Minister please indicate, in the interest of public safety, what measurements his department has in place to provide access to up-to-the-minute weather forecasts for harvesters who require them, in view of the fact that they have taken this responsibility over from Nav Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think there is some clarification required here. Transportation did not take anything over from Nav Canada. Nav Canada simply stated they are not going to be having CARS supply public weather information. CARS still supplies that information to aircraft. Transportation's only responsibility that I am aware of is to supply information to aircraft. We do not supply the general public with weather information. Although this service has been available through airports in the past, it is the decision of Nav Canada that CARS would no longer be required to do this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there are programs available through this government for parents to access counselling for various types of problems, which may have contributed to situations in their homes where their children may have been at risk and may have been apprehended. There are a variety of counselling services available to deal with these issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minster. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, are there programs specifically designed to assist families as a unit and deal with the problems within the family?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the child protection workers/social workers who work in all of our communities are there to assist with counselling and support to families. Unfortunately, in recent years, these front-line workers have been quite overloaded in terms of the number of cases that they are called upon to manage. It has not always been possible to work with families where problems may be indicated early before things get to a more crisis type of situation.

One of the things that our department is planning to do is hire ten more social workers with child protection expertise that will hopefully allow these kind of interventions to be made before things reach a crisis. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister tell me where these programs are? My understanding is we have 39 beds at a treatment facility here in the Northwest Territories. So where is it that families who are having problems are able to deal with their problems in the Northwest Territories?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a variety of resources available in various communities. These include things such as mental health workers, social workers and addictions counsellors. There are various programs that are set up community by community. It is our intention and hope that we would be able to increase/enhance these services through various initiatives. Certainly not the least of which is the inclusion and hiring of more social workers to deal with family issues. Thank you.

Merci, Madam Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the apprehension of children should be the last resort and we should look at workable solutions to deal with these family problems. I would like to ask the Minister how much effort is put in from her department to ensure we try to find workable solutions to resolve these family problems?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do agree with the Member that the apprehension of children should be a last resort. We do have an obligation to provide protection to children who are at risk, but we also have a responsibility as a government to families to ensure that proper support and counselling are available to them when they find themselves in difficult situations that may put their family at risk of being split up. Thank you.