Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of considering legislation or coming forward with legislation that would somehow give us the legal authority to prohibit or somehow force individuals, women, not to drink is one that is fraught with many ethical and legal considerations.

In fact, there was a situation down, I believe, in Manitoba where such an approach was tried and it ended up in a very significant court battle and rulings made it very clear that we have to be very careful if we want to consider that kind of approach. Is the department considering that approach at present? No, we are not.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is unfortunate that they are not looking at any form of legislation in that area, when in fact, to date, Mr. Krutko in this House raised the issue of newborns being apprehended because of situations. Even that could be considered too late in some instances, Mr. Speaker, because the damage is done in the womb when alcohol becomes part of a situation.

I would like to know, will his department entertain looking at possibilities, for example in bars, when the owners and those working there are aware that a pregnant mother is in there and becoming intoxicated, can we look at that kind of legislation to at least stop the consumption at some point here? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I, I believe, share the same concern and the same goal. We would like to have every child in the Northwest Territories born healthy and not impacted by FAS/FAE. I am prepared to consider and work with my colleague and any of the Members opposite if they have options or suggestions that we have not considered, or that we have and require revisiting to come up with a way so that we can come to the day in our society, in our country here, where all of our children are born healthy.

So yes, I would be happy to talk to the Member and take any suggestions we have to help us deal with this very critical and eminently preventable issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that. Will the Minister communicate with non-government organizations out there to see if they would be interested in looking at something of this nature?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will definitely bring this message forward but I can also tell the Member that all of the people in the communities working with FAS/FAE, and there are many across the Northwest Territories, are always looking at ways and bringing forward ideas of how we can best deal with this preventable and most unfortunate symptom visited upon our unborn children. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier regarding a letter that was sent to the Premier on January 9th regarding the transfer of programs and services from the Beaufort-Delta Interim Regional Council. It relates to a motion that was passed December 6th.

The motion is Resolution 8, 2001 Transfer of Programs and Services:

WHEREAS the present Government of the Northwest Territories initially transfers programs and services to communities through community empowerment and the transfer of programs;

AND WHEREAS the Beaufort-Delta political accord has determined to work through program and service initiatives.

Just on that, Mr. Speaker, following up on the questions that I asked to the two previous Ministers regarding mental health and economic development officers, I would like to ask the Premier what action this government is taking in light of the motion passed at the Beaufort leaders meeting on the transfer of programs and services?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the negotiations on self-government that are progressing in the Beaufort-Delta, this government has been looking at a number of possible ways to respond positively to the implementation, preparing for the implementation of self-government in the Beaufort-Delta. Also, helping the region to prepare for the oil and gas activity that they will find even more of in the next few years.

There have been specific requests being made over the years for the transfer of GNWT resources to specific communities, the transfer of responsibility for programs and services to communities. We believe these will continue. There is a need to look at engaging in a real discussion about transferring to the region then we need to get that fairly clear at the political level before we start to engage in that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think this is an urgent matter. It has been identified by the Beaufort leaders in how the community transfer agreements are being delivered. Resources are inadequate and to encourage or attract good people we need the resources and the infrastructure to be able to manage these people.

I would like to ask the Premier again, how soon can we see some of these initiatives taking place and see an increase in the amount of money that is spent on these transfer agreements?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Beaufort-Delta leaders are meeting in a few weeks, I believe. Hopefully we will have some indication of what we are prepared to engage in. We have, informally, made some suggestions to some of the Beaufort-Delta leaders and we have yet to get some indication of how we should begin our work and how quickly we can proceed on it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned two documents, a letter which was written to the Premier and the Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine, and the resolution that was passed in the December Beaufort-Delta leaders meeting.

I would like to ask the Premier, who has had some time to look at this, has the government taken any initiatives or actions regarding the requests made to those two proposals made through the letter and resolution?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have the letter and we have the motions on file. We have staff looking at possible ways we can respond. As I said, we are expecting to attend the Beaufort-Delta leaders meeting and hopefully we will have some suggestions that we can make to the Beaufort-Delta leaders at that time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope the Premier does not take too long, because I think the communities are serious about the problems we are seeing with the transfer agreements, especially with the mental health workers and the economic development officers.

I would like to ask the Premier that he does not tie all of this stuff into the self-government agreement. There are community transfer agreements with communities right now.

Will the Premier commit to take a look at the community transfer agreements and allow for an increase in those amounts and the amount of money being funded through those agreements right now?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.