Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that is a concept that we are still interested in and we are specifically looking at that through collaborative service networks. We have three implementation process people working on trying to identify how that could be done and where. I share the Member's interests in anything that could be viably located outside Yellowknife and we would be looking at trying to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That particular exercise of looking at those sorts of options, where in terms of the overall implementation of the action plan, might that fall in terms of being a priority, or might make sense to begin to look at that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the current emphasis has been placed on developing the implementation plans for all the actions outlined in the action plan. Some have due dates that are sooner than others, but we are looking at trying to conclude and get the implementation plans finalized so that we can start moving. The issue of collaborative service networks ties into a number of other issues like the service delivery model and such. It is there on the table with the rest, and we want to start moving on that with our various tasked teams as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of the higher -- not priority, but things that can be accomplished more quickly in terms of implementation, I hope the Minister will keep a watchful eye so that any of those types of decisions or activities would not pre-empt or preclude future consideration. Sometimes when a plan gets put in place, it eliminates options that might flow out of that. I want to make sure that the Minister keeps his eye on that concept of ensuring that in the process of wanting to achieve system-wide integration and a collaborative approach, we do not make decisions that will hinder those opportunities in the future.

When we talk about centres of excellence, some of the areas that have come up are areas such as mental health, palliative care, seniors care, rehabilitation, areas like this. Has there been any preliminary brainstorming within the department or within the task teams as to where a more focused approach to those types of things might appropriately be placed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member raises some good points. We are looking at those kinds of issues through the Continuing Care Strategy as well as the Alcohol and Drug and Mental Health and Family Violence Strategy. We want to look at where our services are best located. We have what was called a reprofiling exercise of existing facilities to make sure they are used to their best capacity. We have, as I have indicated in the House, a number of requests across the Northwest Territories for enhanced program delivery in the area of alcohol and drugs, in your riding, Mr. Chairman, up the valley, there are three. There is Yellowknife with the Dene Nation motion, so we are looking at a whole number of areas in addition to whatever may come out of the work of the task committee in terms of more specific program areas and not just facilities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In conjunction with that work, in terms of looking at various centres of excellence for services in the Northwest Territories, I hope that we are also considering the repatriation of programs and services from southern institutions. I still think there is an opportunity when you look at the quantity of referrals for certain things, such as rehab work for injured workers, things like that, there still is opportunity in the North for those. That is something else that I do not want to see lose sight of because it is -- first and foremost, it provides a more effective service for the client and then there are a whole lot of other issues around economy, such as employment and access to the patient's family and issues like that.

I think in terms of opening comments, that is all I have for right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the issue of repatriation is one that both the Member and I have had involvement in our constituencies, in terms of patients and clients down south. There is clearly an agreement that is something that we should look at, but we have to look at those on, as the Member knows, an individual basis, given the specific needs of the client or patient involved. We have had some successes but we have had some situations that have not been quite as effective as we had planned, but it is something given, as the Member indicated, the number of -- the use of southern placements. That is a concern.

In addition, the concept of rehabilitative services, especially as they pertain to the WCB and organizations such as that, makes very good sense. I know I have at different times raised it unsuccessfully in this Assembly with the government. It is something I think we have to press for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to make comments on a couple of different areas. First, regarding the issue of our seniors. In the communities in my riding, especially the larger one, Fort Providence, we have a seniors home. It is a level one and has been for many years. I think it was constructed in 1980. It is run by the local housing authority. We have been looking for many years now and discussing with the Department of Health, for I think upwards of ten years, of how to work with this department. It has never really come to a formal level of discussion but it has come up in many community meetings. We have a concern regarding having to send our seniors to a different community when they reach a point where they need care. If they do not have family that can really take care of them, they have to be sent to Hay River or Fort Simpson. It is usually Hay River. Has Mr. Miltenberger looked at ways to incorporate and bring into the system new -- I should not say new, but to upgrade facilities so that we can look at keeping our seniors at home? Look at going to a level two facility? Up until now, it has been really an uphill battle. It seems like it has been falling on deaf ears, that we would like our facility to go to a higher level so we can keep our seniors in our communities longer. That would be my first question, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we are in fact working on that particular initiative as we speak, in terms of bringing it to conclusion. I am referring to the Continuing Care Strategy, which looks at home care services and support services in the community, as well as what kind of facility services may be required. They are doing assessments, I understand, in the communities. We are aware of the concern raised by the Member, in Fort Providence specifically. When we put the strategy on the table, we want to be able to identify very clearly how we intend to respond to those particular kinds of initiatives and how we are going to move ahead in a very specific way.

His communities are there as well. My community, all the larger communities that have facilities, are they adequately located in terms of the service delivery spectrum? If we are going to look at the demographics and the demands, how do we anticipate where we should go? So yes, we are looking at that.

Mr. Chairman, I would also ask the Minister another question regarding seniors. The Minister kind of touched on this issue the other day when I asked him in oral questions about seniors and reviewing the policy regarding seniors. My concern was that a lot of these policies have been in place since 1989. The caps on different spending are outdated. For example, the seniors' dental health plan is capped at $1,000 a year. That seems to be fairly low. Just looking from that aspect, I thought it would be in order that this policy be reviewed. The Minister has indicated that he has been looking at it. If he can give us a little more detail as to when this review is going to start, how long it is going to take, when can we expect to see the completion of the review and the recommendations?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, initially the intent was we put out our request for proposals to do the review of supplementary health programs that the Member has referenced. There were no takers on the RFP. So what we have done now is we are moving to do it internally. We have developed the terms of reference and we are pulling together the people to start work on the review. We will be coming to committee here sometime in the next couple of weeks to do a full briefing, for sure the terms of reference. We want to look at the whole area of supplementary health benefits, and for some of the reasons the Member indicated, there have been a lot of issues and concerns raised over the years in terms of the adequacy of the funding that is there, the policies that are there. Are they up to date and are they still relevant? So we are going to move ahead on that.

The fact that we have no takers on the RFP has put us back a few weeks, but we want to come at the earliest opportunity. I just talked to the chairman of Social Programs this morning about setting up a meeting sometime in early March so we can go over that whole process with the committee. Thank you.