Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it will help in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars that we spend as a government dealing with the social envelope right now. It will allow us to focus on some pilot projects to look at things like the impact of major resource development in certain affected regions.

So yes, it is nothing to be sneezed at. It is money in a time when times are tight. We are going to try to combine it with all the other money that we are putting towards these areas. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a host of different ways that we are trying to work with communities and individuals. We are starting right at conception. We are trying to encourage mothers who are pregnant not to drink. We are trying to deal with the alcohol and drug issue so that in fact alcohol, which tends to be at the centre of many of our social problems and many of our health problems, becomes less of a factor.

We have put as a government 20 new social workers, child protection positions into the field to assist and work with communities and families. We are trying to better integrate our services at the community level so that public health social workers, alcohol and drug workers work together more effectively at the early stages with families and children.

The approach we are taking with alcohol and drugs and family violence and mental health is going to be one which continues to try to focus on community development and working with families with children as opposed to focusing on the other end, in facilities.

So we are taking in a number of initiatives across the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regard to the number of children presently in custody, there are some 867 children, Mr. Speaker. That is a large percentage of our population, but from the Minister's comments that he is going to do all these grand things of alcohol and drug treatment programs, I would like to ask the Minister, how soon are we going to see dollars being increased in that area? Right now we have one alcohol and drug facility in the Northwest Territories. What is the Minister going to do to ensure we are able to implement this so-called strategy?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated in this House during this session there is a document, the integrated service delivery model, that we put forward that looks at alcohol and drug, family violence, mental health as well as the issue of continuing care with its three streams of facility living, supported living and home care that we have put together based on all the extensive work that has been done over the last few years. That document is currently sitting with the Standing Committee on Social Programs. We are refining it as we speak and waiting for feedback as well, and we want to proceed, along with the recruitment and retention issue, to Cabinet with the recommendations that we are making in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now we are spending in excess of $5,525,000 in this one area. Mr. Speaker, as we all know with regard to the problems we see in our communities, yes they are alcohol and drug related, but they are also dealing with the social fabric of our communities. What is the Minister going to do to improve the social conditions in our communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a government we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in social and health programs across the North. The social agenda, which will be brought to this House on Wednesday, will speak to the issue of how we work to assist communities to deal with the major impact of resource development. We continue to put more and more resources into communities; $58 million have been put into the authorities from 1997-1998 to the present. As I indicated we have added social workers. We are trying to improve and strengthen home care. We are working along with the work done by Education and Housing across the board to try to improve the social conditions in all the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard that the Minister state that he is looking at increasing the funding with regard to social workers and whatnot but, Mr. Speaker, my view is that the biggest challenge we have in our communities is bringing the standard of salaries for mental health workers or alcohol and drug workers to a similar power as those service professionals. I would like to ask the Minister what he is doing to increase the wages of our front line workers such as our mental health and drug and alcohol workers in our communities to assist the people in our communities who have these problems?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is one of the key issues that we address in the document that I have been referencing, the integrated service delivery model. It speaks to the alcohol and drug, family violence and mental health response. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. Item 7, written questions. The chair recognized the honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Thank you. Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize two leaders of many aboriginal people from Weledeh and, in fact, beyond those boundaries. First Chief Darrel Beaulieu of the Yellowknives Dene, and Clem Paul, president of the North Slave Metis Alliance. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given that I have another chance here I would like to recognize Ruth and Bob Spence, long-time residents and avid observers and opinionators about politics in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you. I believe the honourable Member had used her recognition already, however we will recognize them anyway. Any other persons that have not used this opportunity? The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.