Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this act has been in place for a number of years. The plan and care committees are set up in conjunction with the people in the communities and the community leadership.

I am also in the process of trying to arrange a meeting with the Dene Nation. They have some concerns and want to have some discussion in terms of child welfare matters. I have had some discussions with the people in the Dogrib region.

I know this is a very important area, one where there is some history. We are very clearly committed to providing the best service possible and protect the interests of the children, while trying to maintain a family structure.

Mr. Speaker, there has been consultation and there will be continued consultation. I will be going into the communities in the coming weeks and months and I am sure that item will be on the agenda, as it has already been, when I get to the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us in this House exactly how many children are presently in care, or who have been withdrawn from the family member or from a home? Exactly where are these children today?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can give the Member an indication of a snapshot. The numbers change, sometimes on a daily basis. As of September 30, 2001, there were 246 children that had court status with the department, which means they are in either permanent custody, temporary custody, in the process of being apprehended or are under some type of supervision order. We have approximately 20 children down in southern placements. The other children are in various placements throughout the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear our preference is ultimately for the removal of this substance. I am wondering if the Minister can say to date, of the proposed options that DIAND has discussed as being most appropriate to address our concerns, which of those options is RWED leaning toward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my concern is that if DIAND comes back to us and says "Options X and Y are too expensive, therefore we are going with Z," what is this government prepared to do? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I am looking for some sort of assurance that this Minister and this department will not accept the cheapest solution as necessarily the most preferential. There are other sites in the Territories. I think it would set a terrible precedent if we just buckled under and accepted the cheapest solution. Will the Minister give me assurance that cost and the price of this cleanup will not be the ultimate determining factor? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to go back to the questions I raised with the Minister of MACA, Mr. Vince Steen, about swimming pools. I asked several days ago about consideration to replace the swimming pool in Fort Providence. I received several phone calls from my constituents regarding his answers. I want to ask again, because in his response, he talked about not knowing why swimming pools were not in the capital planning anymore and was not aware that there was a request from Fort Providence. He could not answer why some communities could transfer funds and others could not.

I would like to ask the Minister if he could give me a clear answer on what he plans to do with this request. What is his answer to the people? What message can he send to the people of Fort Providence regarding the request for swimming pools? Thank you.