Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member's statement today a constituent of mine has a farm of some 200 acres that he operates within the Northwest Territories. He grows feed crop there. Mr. Speaker, he has been trying for a number of years now to get a contract with the government to supply some feed for the buffalo herd in Fort Resolution. My question is for the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. Could he tell me how much feed is purchased each year for that herd in Fort Resolution? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister inform me as to how much money the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development gives to Fort Resolution for buying feed for the herd? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for RWED, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the exact figure, but I am given to understand that it could be in the hundred thousand dollar range. Does the department have any input as to how that money is spent as far as where the feed is purchased from, seeing that the money comes from the department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for RWED, Mr. Antoine.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister commit to reviewing this situation and if there is a supply of feed that is grown in the Northwest Territories and available, at least a portion of the feed that is necessary for that herd, would the Minister look at the possibility of giving some business to our northern business that can supply that feed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for RWED, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is again for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Following on his response to my last question I would like to know, are there going to be new positions established for these family visitors or is this just a re-titling of home care workers and adding more responsibility to those? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes there will be. There will be an assessment done of the community capabilities and where it is not possible to tie into the home care providers we will be looking at supplementing those with resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister said they would be doing an evaluation of communities. If there are already home care workers in a community, does that mean that they will just have added responsibilities and where there are not, they will add a position? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if my colleague will indulge me I will just give him some numbers I have in terms of the caseload.

The caseload is expected to be a maximum of 10 families per worker. However, this is for families with a new baby only that are identified as at risk and who voluntarily agree to participate in the program. Not every family with a newborn will require the services of a family visitor. For example, the average birthrate in Inuvik is approximately 76 births per year. Not every family in Inuvik will be at risk, so assuming that one-quarter to one-third are at risk and agree to participate in the program it would be approximately 23 families. With a maximum caseload of 10 families, Inuvik will require 2.5 workers.

Small communities such as Sachs Harbour which only has four new babies per year would only require one worker probably working half-time as a family visitor. By 2004 we anticipate there will be at least one family visitor in every community in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.