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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a lot of programs are currently underway, and it is a function of government, for us as leaders, to be assessing the effectiveness and value of these programs, which we do on an ongoing basis.

With regard to the new initiatives that have been identified by the various strategies, this is our budget session, so starting in the new fiscal year there will be new activities added to the existing programs. Over the course of the summer we hope to consult with people at a number of the assemblies, and look forward to putting together a social agenda, as I said before, in consultation with other government leaders and many other stakeholders. We look forward to a conference being held in the fall to help us define what that social agenda will look like for future years business planning. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a number of constituents who are attending the FAS workshop in Fort Simpson and they sent me a series of questions that they would like me to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

The first one is regarding the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. It has been presented as "investing a significant amount of money for FAE/FAS programming." Can the Minister inform us as to how much funding will be available for community-based FAE/FAS programming? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am very pleased that the conference is on in Fort Simpson and certainly pleased that the members there are also taking an interest, and no doubt they will be watching today.

Some reference before has been made to the issue of funding through the Early Childhood Development Program, Mr. Speaker, and the details of the funding allocations have not been finalized yet. I would like to state that the moment we can finalize this area, we certainly want to ensure that individuals and Members know about it, and that communities become aware of it as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize that the department is still working on the final details of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. I would like to ask the Minister if he could tell us whether there will be opportunities for communities such as Fort Providence and the Hay River Reserve to apply for access funding through this program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. More and more, our government is working on the basis of partnering, Mr. Speaker, and certainly the Member's question is very relevant here. Wherever possible, we will certainly look to ensuring that we partner and try to utilize local processes if the resources are available in the local setting.

Given that, we also spoke earlier about the social action plan, and again it is an area that is, as we discussed today, under development headed by the Minister of Health and Social Services. To repeat myself, our efforts are more and more continuing on the process of partnering on situations, because we recognize that the importance of delivery is very effective when it is done locally. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A question that was also sent to me by a resident of the Hay River Reserve concerned what the department is doing to ensure that education standards and techniques are improved to deal with this issue.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue has been around for a bit of time and some work has been done, but our efforts continue on the whole area of equipping teachers and educators with the ability to deal with specific issues in the classroom. That requires the accessing of resources. I mentioned earlier that we are partners with the western provinces to share information. Certainly that gives us an opportunity to give a lot of material and a lot of ability to look for ways and means, but in the long run, as I mentioned earlier, for our intent is to try to create and tailor our own resource materials here in the North to effectively deal with the different situations that we have compared to other jurisdictions.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Your final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does his department know the number of students that are affected by FAS and FAE currently in our schools?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Mr. Ootes.

Yes, we do, Mr. Speaker. The student needs survey, which was conducted and completed several months ago, did a complete survey of 9,000 students in the school system. I believe it was 2,500 who had individual assessments done and of that number, we learned that the medical diagnosis for FAS/FAE numbered only one percent, only 42 individuals, but that was the medical diagnosis. That is what we have to go by because we have no way of being the judge of who is FAS/FAE. It is an area where the educators are not allowed to make the diagnosis. It requires a medical diagnosis. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member's statement, I am concerned that once a victim of FAS/FAE becomes an adult, our ability to cope with them, to help them manage is very limited. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services outline for this Assembly what services the department offers today for adults affected by FAE and FAS? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of adult individuals who are in facility placements throughout the Northwest Territories with symptoms that are attributed to FAS/FAE. These individuals are in placement in group homes and independent living situations. There are also many individuals with more serious needs who require supports for additional diagnosis along with suspected FAS/FAE. These individuals are receiving a continuum of support including residential support, life skill training, job coaching and support for more independent living situations. My department, in partnership with Education, Culture and Employment, does provide funding towards support for persons attributed to have FAS/FAE. The department funds health and social services boards to contract these services from professional, non-profit organizations.

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