Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there has been significant investment in developing the training programs for social workers and nurses. There is somewhere in the neighbourhood, I believe, of 70-some nurses currently in training. We are expecting a significant number to graduate this year. As well, we have a Northern Social Worker Program in Aurora College. We also encourage and have special programs for those students and folks that want to go to medical school to try to support them in a more appropriate way for that long course of study.

We want to look at the training and professional development that we provide to the staff we have. I agree that the issue is not so much just recruitment, but is retention as well. We have to retain the staff we have. We want to make sure that we continue to have a competitive package of compensation and benefits. We want to better collaborate and share our resources and planning so that we can, in fact, do the most efficient type of recruiting and retention possible as a system of only 42,000 people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other area that I touched on is the lack of infrastructure in our communities, especially housing. In trying to recruit people, one of the biggest challenges we have in our smaller communities is just trying to get professionals, such as mental health workers, into our communities when you do not have accommodation for these individuals because of the lack of housing in our communities. I would like to ask the Minister what he is doing to ensure that we do have the facilities or resources to ensure that these people coming to our communities are assisted in the different areas, that we try to find adequate housing, working with the private sector or working with the communities to have the resources to do that.

I will use an example. In the community of Tsiigehtchic, they have been trying to get a mental health worker and also trying to get someone to work in the economic development area, but there is no housing. The band has gone out of their way to purchase two trailers to bring into the community but it is at their cost. This government is not assisting in that area. That is the frustration in our small communities.

The government has not put any real infrastructure or any major capital investment into our communities and we are feeling the effects of these various programs and trying to deliver these programs in our communities but not being able to attract people because of things that are workable. A simple thing like housing or accommodation we do not have in most of our communities.

I would like to ask the Minister if there is a program or something in place to assist communities such as Tsiigehtchic, where they have had to go out of their way to purchase trailers to bring into the community and set them up for mental health workers, teachers or other professionals?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the issue of housing in the smaller communities is one that has a direct impact on service delivery in some cases. I know the Minister of Housing has announced some programs that we have been supporting to try to create a better climate so that home construction can take place in the communities, in terms of purchasing land and making the cost of construction hopefully somewhat less prohibitive, so that the actual rents charged are not unaffordable by people in the communities.

I know that is not the only answer and that it is not a total solution, but it is the one that is before us now and is going to require a lot more work and it is going to continue to impact on the service delivery, as the Member pointed out. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to follow up on the points you raised regarding alcohol and drug programs and assisting, where we can, to develop our alcohol and drug programs closer to home. Right now, we only have one facility on the Hay River Reserve. It has to serve the whole Northwest Territories. You have touched on the area of development and the impact and effect of development on our communities. I have pounded the table many times during the 13th Assembly with your predecessors on the Tl'oondih Healing Society. There is much reluctance. I do not know if it is the bureaucracy or this government that wants to see new ideas or new initiatives taken to find ways and solutions to deal with those problems.

Right now, the Tl'oondih Healing Society has been accessing program dollars through the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, because at least they are listening to the communities and they are funding programs to assist the communities in regard to community wellness, early childhood development and what has happened with the different problems in residential schools.

I would like to ask the Minister, what does the community or an organization have to do to get this government to assist or to help those communities that do have people trained, have spent the money, developed the human resources in our communities but do not have the support of this government? I would like to ask the Minister again, what does it take for a community, an organization or an institution such as the Tl'oondih Healing Society, who are running federal programs in our regions but this government does not want to support them or assist them to run programs on behalf of this government? Yet we are exporting people to the south for alcohol and drug programs but we are not able to assist in our communities in regions.

I would like to ask the Minister, what does it take to utilize the Tl'oondih Healing Camp, which is over a $2 million facility sitting there, running programs on behalf of the federal government, but this government will not allow them to run GNWT programs. What does it take?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as I indicated in the House, I believe it was yesterday, we recognize in the action plan as a government that there are impacts because of major resource development. We recognize that we are behind the curve here in terms of responding. We are making attempts to bring the resources of the GNWT together to look at what we are going to do. How do we work with communities, the federal government and aboriginal governments to respond to the impacts of major resource development?

As I indicated yesterday, this is not a process that we are anticipating is going to be months and months of study and protracted meetings, but it is a situation where we want to be able to look at things on a project-by-project basis, at least initially. We want to be able to look at and use the systems and services that we have in the regions and in the communities. How do we support and possibly supplement or add to those services?

I am very clearly aware of the Member raising the issue of Tl'oondih. I have sat through the 13th Assembly just a few chairs down from the Member and I can even spell Tl'oondih. The Member has been very, very vigilant in raising that issue.

I am committed, along with the department and the JLC and the health boards, to sit down with the communities. I have committed to you and to the people of the Inuvik region that I am going to go back up there to all the communities. I have also talked to you about how, as Minister, I have never seen -- and you had encouraged them to send me a proposal, something we can initiate discussions with.

We are interested. We, the health and social services system, will sit down with the affected communities and we will work through how we can respond in as timely a way as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. General comments? Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we made a commitment to provide the Members and the Social Programs committee with the cancer rates by gender, by the type of cancer, by the geographical area so that we can see and review those. We have health stats that we put out. We will pull that together. You will note, as I indicated yesterday, that there is a rise in cancer rates generally across the board. I cannot tell you at this time if there are any specific increases by region or by community. I can just indicate that we will get that information for you as I committed to you yesterday. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we are currently engaged in negotiations with the Union of Northern Workers for GNWT employees who are members of that union. We also have negotiations underway with the doctors. We are constantly monitoring the competitive nature of our benefit compensation package, so it is an issue we know is important and we are engaged in that process as we speak. Thank you.

Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Minister, did you want to respond to the comment? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have heard statistics on some of the health issues facing Northerners, such as diabetes and the prevalence of this emerging illness. When we think about the importance of diet and nutrition in preventing illness, I just wonder if the Minister has any thoughts on some statistics I have heard in the Northwest Territories. For example, we consume 20,000 cans of pop a day.

When you go into any of the small communities, there are grocery stores in which there seems to be an inordinate number of shelves dedicated to what we would call junk food; pop, potato chips, cheesies and these sorts of things. Does the Minister have any thoughts on what we can do as a government to counteract this trend? It is a well-known fact that diet and nutrition, exercise, some of these things less talked about are big contributors to healthy bodies. I would like to get the Minister's comments on that. Thank you.

Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if the Member would like my thoughts I would be very happy to provide those. I agree wholeheartedly with the issue that she has raised and the way she has framed it, that these are critical issues. I mentioned in the House yesterday when we discussed sustainability, that those kinds of basic choices, nutritional choices, personal choices in terms of drinking and smoking, are very fundamental.

As she well knows, the department has a number of areas in terms of dealing with active living and diabetes and pregnancies and smoking strategies, trying to better educate and promote the benefit of making the right choices. Is it enough? Clearly it is not, given the unfortunate statistics that we are aware of in terms of smoking and drinking.

I know the issue of diet is one that is even tougher, because it affects even the very, very young if you start off with bad eating habits.

I recognize the problem. I know what we are doing. I am very interested in finding out ways, working with MLAs in the communities and the professional people and people who are in this business, of how do we in fact promote that kind of lifestyle that the Member references.

In the long run, it is going to be absolutely critical in terms of sustainability of the system. Thank you.

Mrs. Groenewegen.