Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week we spoke about how FAS can be prevented by not drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Today, I wish to draw attention to another problem in the North. That is the number of alcohol-related deaths.

Alcohol is a factor in 59 percent of all accidental deaths in 1999, Mr. Speaker. As you can imagine, many of these accidents were likely affected by impaired judgment. Males accounted for 82 percent of the accidental deaths. Drowning and cold exposure were the primary reasons for accidental deaths. Our coroner, Percy Kinney, says he wants people to make informed choices when they drink alcohol. He will be speaking at an upcoming CYAID conference, Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving, that will be held here in Yellowknife. He will be talking to students about high-risk behaviour when drinking. His presentation is called Partners in Prevention. A doctor will also speak on emergency room techniques, while 300 students and adult advisors from across Canada are expected to be at this conference. This is the first time they are expecting representation from every province and territory in Canada. The coroner has already given this presentation in Fort Liard and Inuvik and is willing to deliver it anywhere in the Territories. BC coroner Larry Campbell has already been up here before to deliver a similar presentation.

Again, Mr. Speaker, helping young people with conferences such as this is a proactive approach to dealing with this problem, a good model that can be used to educate people in dealing with the huge problem of FAS/FAE in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause