Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is money in this year's budget for the 10 positions identified for 2002-2003 through the business planning process and based on the recommendations made by the Child Welfare League of Canada review. If the Legislature approves the budget, then the positions as outlined, based on the Child Welfare League of Canada review, will be put into place based on the funding approved by the Legislature. Thank you.

Mr. Nitah.

The Minister of Health.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, what we have are the three years of this particular initiative. The year 2001-2002 has already been approved and the positions, I believe, are all staffed. The current year, 2002-2003, is what is now being approved. Should 2003-2004 be approved next year through the business planning and main estimates process, then what we have laid out on the top here for 2003-2004 will be dealt with next year. What we are dealing with this year is 2002-2003 funding approved, and the positions as laid out on this particular sheet of paper. Thank you.

Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, maybe the point I have failed to make is that these positions are building on in addition to the existing staff complements that are in the various communities. To use the example that Mr. Nitah raised, in addition to the current count in Hay River, in 2001-2002, they received another social worker position. If we follow through to 2003-2004, should that be approved next year, then they would in fact be adding another position as well, based on the Child Welfare League of Canada review. That is the same in all cases. We are building on the existing complement and adding two. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, with regard to the community health programs as we were going through earlier, we could see the number of vacancies. It seemed like a lot of them are in communities. One of the problems we have in our communities is the lack of professionals, people with different educational backgrounds, such as mental health workers and social workers. Plus, with the high turnover rates we seem to see with the nurses and doctors in our communities, there are no real long-term support mechanisms in our communities.

Is there room within this budget to allow for or to ensure that we have a full slate of people in our communities, so that we do not have the problem with vacancies in the different areas because we are not able to find accommodation, or because there is a lack of capacity between the wages of, say $50,000 for a mental health worker where you can get $85,000 working in Yellowknife, or even Inuvik?

There also seems to be the different specialists all in the regional centres. Is there anything being done to ensure that we have the ability to develop our capacity in our communities? Have the resources and the people, so they can provide services with respect to family violence issues that may arise in our communities, or looking at child support matters. We deal with those matters in our communities so that we do not have to see our children or family members having to leave the communities and go elsewhere because we do not have the resource people in our communities.

I would like to ask the Minister whether there is anything in this budget that allows for this, to ensure we have the people who are needed in our communities to carry out those responsibilities. What are you doing to ensure we have a full slate of people without having all these vacancies affecting the delivery of program services in our communities?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the positions identified for the communities are all funded. What we are faced with, as the Member has pointed out, is a recruitment issue and, as I have tried to indicate over the last number of days, we are working with all the boards and the department to try to improve how we recruit. Not only how we recruit, but how we retain staff in all areas. We recognize this is a very complex issue and one we have to become very efficient and effective in.

There are some very specific issues as they relate to the smaller communities, as the Member mentioned as well. Things like housing. We are trying to work with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to determine the best way to try to bring some stability into that area as well. We are looking at ways to retain staff with career opportunities, staff training, mentoring. We want to make sure we work very closely with the communities so that we have a work environment and community environment that is the most appropriate and the best that the community and the staff can come to rely on.

We are doing a number of things and the money is in the budget for all of the positions.

The Member has touched on the difference in wages between some of the communities that he has indicated. We are also having to deal with the difference between government pay ranges and what is given to NGO's for salary dollars. That is an issue that we are dealing with. It is on the list, but it is one that has not been resolved yet and it is one that is not fully funded in this particular budget. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister, in regard to the whole area of family violence and concerns from communities asking for community shelters, for women who may be in a violent situation or have to leave their homes, or even having treatment programs such as healing programs in the communities. It seems like because of the lack of involvement by communities to really have an active role to play in developing programs in their communities...I use the Tl'oondih Healing Centre, for instance. It is a $2 million facility. They have run programs and services out of there in regard to funds that were received through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, but again it is not in here and I am wondering exactly...

We realize we have all these problems and what not in our communities, but I think the communities have the will to work with it. It seems like the department or the government has a real reluctance to change the way they do things. I think because of the amalgamation of health with social services, you see a real breakdown or lack of focus on the different specialized areas.

One is dealing with the social aspects, one is dealing with the health aspects, but because you have moulded these two together, it seems like we are not able to carry out as many of the areas as we can.

You talk to the social workers and what not, they seem to spend a lot of time dealing with the child custody issues and matters dealing with the courts themselves. Then there is very little time to deal with the elders or the alcohol and drug side of things. They do not seem to be a priority anymore with the government.

I would like to ask the Minister, exactly when can we see this government allowing communities to have a more active role in developing those different areas and see, if it does not work, is there a possibility of changing the way we deliver programs and services to small communities?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, working with the department and with the health boards in the communities, we are as interested as the Member in seeing what is working effectively and what is not. If change is required and things need to be done differently, then working together, we can determine how that is to be done.

I would also just like to restate what I mentioned in the last couple of days, as well. We recognize in the action plan that there are significant socio-economic impacts due to major resource development. The Member and I have discussed this issue before.

The plan to move ahead with the impacted areas on a project-by-project basis tried to anticipate and deal with some of those impacts, those negative impacts, some of which the Member has touched upon. We are running, as I have acknowledged, somewhat late on this, but we are moving fast to be responsive and we are interested in sitting down once again with the boards in the communities in the impacted areas to see in that particular item as well how we can be responsive to deal with some of those very important issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I think one thing that is needed is, we have to have a long-term commitment from the government when we talk about the different areas.

As you know, the biggest problem that is facing employment in the oil and gas or even mining sector is the whole area of dealing with alcohol and drugs, in regard to the different drug tests and what not. Where does a person go that fails the test? Right now, there is no real avenue for them. Once you fail the test, you fail the test and you are not allowed to get back into the workforce until the following year, unless you go to a private contractor, then go in through the oil companies.

I think it is important as a government that we start allowing communities to deal with some of the problems at hand. What we are seeing is there is no real effort or priority put on this government. Like I mentioned in this house before, the number of suicides in our communities. In Fort McPherson alone there was something like 22 attempted suicides. In regard to Tsiigehtchic and other communities, we had some people who did succeed with a suicide.

I think it is a fundamental problem in our communities. I think we have to find ways of dealing with these problems, suicide and alcohol and drug abuse. No one is going to deal with it except the communities, because this government showed that basically with the closures of all the alcohol and drug centres. Even for us to consider the amount of resources we put into the alcohol and drug programs or suicide prevention, child care and what not, we are lagging in other places in the country, especially eastern Canada or even Alberta.

I would like to ask the Minister, how much long-term guarantees can we get from this government, that once you get into these programs, you know you will be around three to five years down the road? You do not just put a band-aid on it and say, "Okay, well, you are okay until next year and we will deal with you again next year." Could I have a long-term commitment from the Minister regarding these community health programs?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Health and Social Services has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in all communities in infrastructure and programs. We recognize that while some of the programs, as the Member indicated, may not be as relevant as they once were, there is a full commitment from this government and this department to stay actively engaged with the communities and with the health boards, with the representatives to provide the services necessary.

We recognize the need to respond, as we intend to do, on the impact of major resource development. We are not in any way trying to indicate, nor should it be implied, that we are in any kind of cost-cutting mode here. We want to provide the best services possible. We want to work with the communities and the health boards and authorities to make sure that the services are the most responsive and the community plays a key role in determining exactly how those services are structured. Thank you.