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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize. I was under the impression that the Minister of Youth would play a role in implementing the strategy once it was developed. Was I mistaken? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to clarify our role and responsibilities in terms of how we function as the Minister responsible for Youth, that is to play more of an advocacy role than anything else at this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize. I was having a side conversation. My questions are directed to the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. They are in regard to the fire abatement program in our community. I would like to ask the Minister, is there a formal fire abatement program for communities that are in the heart of the boreal forest that they can plan on to make their communities safe during the forest fire season? Thank you.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we do not refer to it as a fire abatement program, but there is a program called the Community Protection, Planning and Support Program. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working with RWED for a number of years. There seems to be some money for the planning phase, but the proposal that was done was multi-year, like five or ten years to do it properly, to do it incrementally so it does not cost a fortune in one year. I would like to ask the Minister, is there funding available to do that kind of program for communities? Thank you.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we do budget $300,000 through the forest management division for community protection, planning and support services. That money could be used for planning or it can be used to assist communities in doing their fire abatement work, whether it is cleaning up, cutting trees, or whatever it may be. It is up to the communities to apply through the district office. Thank you.

Merci, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister indicate whether there is a plan in the Department of RWED to work with the communities that are affected, to in fact ensure that all communities over time will have a proper fire abatement program and that there is the proper protection, the steps are taken to make sure the communities are as fire-proof as possible? Thank you.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we as a department work with the community or town council, with the fire marshal's office, with the aboriginal corporation that might be running a fire crew, or band council office. We work with all of them to help to identify a plan.

The views of communities differ from situation to situation in terms of what they want to do. Some communities want a clear fireguard around the communities. Others want to trim some trees out. Others just want to clean up dead fall and so on. It is really up to the community to determine what the plan will be. We will work with them.

We have a program called Fire Smart that we work with each community on. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister indicate whether he would be willing to assist the community of Fort Smith to try to develop and get the resources for a multi-year, long-term program that will allow us to in fact do the work that has to be done to make our community fire smart? Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been supporting a multi-year program, along with the leaders in the community and the Thebacha Forestry Company, on the fire abatement plan they have been working on. We are quite pleased to have been a part of that. Certainly we will consider any proposals they bring forward now to actually put that plan into action. The responsibility is up to the community leaders to put an application to us. We will certainly have a look at it. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my Member's statement, the non-insured health benefits in the dental program area continue to be a problem for status Indian and Inuit families.

Mr. Speaker, using a figure that I have, in the Yukon Territory, our neighbours have an average cost of $458 per client when they go to Ottawa and put a claim in. Here in the Northwest Territories, as I stated earlier, we are down to about the $351 mark. Mr. Speaker, it has been a problem in the North ever since Ottawa took control of that program back. I know there have been meetings between the dental association and the department, and I believe at one time with representatives of the federal government.

I would like to know from the Minister what is being done in this situation to try and alleviate the problem so that Ottawa does not only take our oil and gas out of the ground, but we stop them from taking out teeth as well? Thank you.

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