Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, today all Regular Members have decided to focus on an issue that is having severe repercussions on the people and Government of the Northwest Territories -- fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effect. Mr. Speaker, we are pleased the Cabinet Members are joining with us to discuss these conditions. Fetal alcohol syndrome, also known as FAS, as we all know, is a name given to a combination of mental and physical defects that a child is born with. These mental and physical defects are a direct result of the mother drinking alcohol while she was pregnant.

Fetal alcohol effect, Mr. Speaker, shares some of the same characteristics of FAS, but is not always as evident. However, babies with fetal alcohol effect, or FAE, often have the same amount of brain damage as children born with FAS.

Mr. Speaker, the saddest thing about FAE and FAS is that the effects are permanent. They are with the child for his or her whole life. There is no cure. However, Mr. Speaker, as we have already heard, both are completely preventable. FAE and FAS cross all socio-economic groups and affect all races. In the United States, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services reports that the extra institutional and medical costs over the lifespan of a child born with FAS are expected to run between $1.5 million and $2.2 million in their lifetime. Mr. Speaker, that is in American dollars. If you convert this to Canadian dollars, the expected extra cost would run between $2.3 million and $3 million Canadian for each child.

However, Mr. Speaker, the biggest cost is not the financial one, but the personal one, the lost human potential. Each child born with FAE and FAS faces a life full of physical, emotional and mental challenges. Mr. Speaker, the incidence of FAS and FAE are under-reported. For every child identified with FAS, there are several others who are affected but lack the full set of characteristics for diagnosis. FAE is estimated to be three to ten times the incidence of diagnosed FAS cases.

Mr. Speaker, we are presently in a budget session. Budgets are used to plan for our future. Everyone agrees that FAS and FAE have become a major issue in the Northwest Territories, but because of the lack of services for diagnosis, we do not have reliable statistics available. Clinical diagnosis and good statistical information are necessary for planning programs, services and facilities. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.