Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mrs. Groenewegen.

As I said before, there is legislative authority required to develop this position. The research on what happens in other jurisdictions is underway now.

I believe Mr. Krutko had an opportunity to attend a meeting recently that discussed the issue of child advocacy in various regions. I believe that some of the representatives that were at that meeting may also be coming here to the North. We plan to take every opportunity to avail ourselves of precedents and work that has already been done in this area, in order to ensure that we get the best and most current legislation in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

One last question. I would like to ask how do we see our front-line workers in our communities dealing with this? Lately, most of the calls I have received were in this area, in which I was asked to intervene where a child was taken away from a parent because of alcohol-related problems, in which they were drinking at home.

It seems like it is always alcohol-related, but yet we do not have a mechanism to help people deal with the alcohol problems in the home. Our solution seems to be we will take the kid away from the home, but do not deal with the problems in the community and in the home.

So I would like to ask the Minister, exactly how much training do people in the communities have in this area? What are you doing to deal with the main source of the problem, which is probably 80 or 90 percent alcohol-related?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, part of this money that is being requested is to ensure that there are standardized levels of competency amongst child protection workers who do work with children and families that are stressful and high risk situations.

Certainly there are a number of contributing factors to families who find themselves in situations. The Member is correct that quite often, alcohol does play a role.

One of the other items that will be coming up under the early childhood development initiative, talks about parenting and family support. I just want to restate that when child protection workers work with families, removal of children from the family is always viewed as a last resort. We have a statutory obligation to protect children at risk. Every effort should be made to keep the family together and to support the individuals as a family unit.

We feel that with the additional training and support that will be offered to the front-line workers that, with the additional positions that have been added, the ten new social workers, there is going to be more time available to work with families in dealing with some of their issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Directorate, corporate services, not previously authorized, $1,200,000. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a little further in this area. Some of the detail that was provided earlier to a Member in the area of fostering and foster care training and programs, I believe there is $12,750 identified in training for foster families, and then $150,000 identified in programs. How much training do we expect to get for $12,750? How many families do we expect to be able to provide training to?

Then, under programming of $150,000, what will that be used for? Is that to provide more funding for foster care families or is it programming that would be used in the department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, the amount for foster family training was $49,625. That is more than the $12,750. Exactly how that is going to be used, how many families that trains and exactly what the $150,000 is for, I will have to turn to Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not have that level of detail with me today. However, I could certainly provide a breakdown even further, as to the exact activities that would take place under the $150,000 that the Member refers to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reason I ask the questions and would like to see that detail is I share some of the concerns raised by other Members. In fact, we are dealing with some numbers here, and some of the numbers quoted are not very large figures. A concern is we are identifying dollars and training programs, things that will be used in headquarters or training of senior staff in those areas.

I am not sure, until I see further detail, is it going to front-line workers or is it going to, in this case, foster care, right to families so they can use it for food or clothing? What area is that in the area of foster care? Is it to try to get more foster care parents, who is going to be eligible for the money? That kind of detail would be nice to know, because right now, those figures are not very high. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the money is identified as social worker/child protection training and delivery. Clearly, the $49,625 is for training social workers, not people in headquarters.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Does this training initiative also cover the travel involved with getting social workers either to regional centres or to the capital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I am not sure. It does not break it down that way. I am assuming it would include the cost of bringing people to centres if that is necessary, or having someone go out to them.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Directorate, corporate services, not previously authorized, $1,200,000.

Agreed. Primary and acute care programs, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I see that $420,974 of this $7 million is to provide funding for a third internal medicine specialist and associated support staff at Stanton Regional Hospital. I would like some clarification. Would an internal medicine specialist not require the support of a surgical unit at some point in order to work?