Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, two questions there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, we do not, as a department, tell the teachers or the schools or direct them to which students need assistance. That is a decision we leave to the board and their staff. Generally, it is a decision that is made between the teachers and the principal and sometimes with the superintendent and other specialized staff they may have. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, while we receive information from the schools on a regular basis, for example, student achievement results, we would only do a comprehensive assessment of a school or of an education authority on an as-needed basis. That would be where someone has brought it to our attention that they are feeling that the services being provided are inadequate in some way. Then we would assess the need to do it and they do that kind of comprehensive review.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today goes to the Minister of Health and Social Services and I want to continue on from the questioning that we had during the committee of the whole discussion last night.

Mr. Speaker, while debating our supplementary budget for health boards, I learned yesterday that Stanton has a deficit of $1.7 million, and that while the government will provide $700,000 for recovery, Stanton for next year will have a $500,000 surplus. During debate, I suggested to require this board, when it is facing what it is facing with the shortage of health care workers and everything else that I have been talking about, to come up with a debt recovery plan has to amount to negligence on the Minister.

Ms. Lee, may I have a question, please? A question for the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to suggest that it is the Minister who is negligent in forcing the health board to come up with this debt recovery plan. Could the Minister answer, what was his instruction to the board to come up with this plan?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is twice now since yesterday that the Member has stated that I am negligent, that the Stanton board is negligent. Given her legal background, I would suggest these are not terms to be used lightly. This is a job I take very seriously and I do not really appreciate the imputation -- it is not an imputation, it is a direct assertion that I am somehow being negligent and not doing this job properly. If the Member is of that strong opinion, she has access to means to address that. I refute that allegation.

I will tell her that we have moved ahead, as I have in this House, very carefully to deal with the deficits and we are going to continue to do that. It is a shared responsibility. It has been accepted by the boards and the authorities. It is underway. I will share those deficit reduction plans, as I have indicated in this House, and I am prepared to stand on the work that I have done to date as Minister.

If the Member wishes to make that allegation and that kind of very serious accusation, this is a forum to do that. Let's debate it, whether I am negligent. I do not believe I am. We have initiated a host of very important initiatives and activities to improve the services to the people -- health and social services -- and that has been done with close collaboration of the communities, the authorities and the community leaders across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Before I go to the supplementary, I just want to caution Members about the phrases they use. The Chair did note that, however, it is not always the Chair's responsibility to act on it. However, the Minister did raise the point where there may be allegations made against a Member of the House of certain concerns. I just want to caution the Members to mind the language they use or the Speaker will make a ruling on it.

The honourable Member for Range Lake, your supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I accept your advice. Mr. Speaker, I believe the situation at Stanton is so grave and so serious that we cannot be using light words or fighting with words, Mr. Speaker. It is grossly irresponsible for the Minister of Health to ask the board...

Ms. Lee, I am going to rule you out of order if you continue along that line. Would you ask a question of the Minister about your concerns? Do not make allegations. The Chair notes your concerns, but be careful of your language or I will rule you out of order. Your question, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister tell us exactly what his instructions were to the board to fight the deficit? What were his instructions to the board? What did he tell the board to do with the debt? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of the debt is one that has been through this House. There will be a third reading of a supplementary appropriation that has funds in there to deal with the financing arrangement. That arrangement was developed in conjunction with the authorities in the department. It is a 60/40 split. It is a shared responsibility of accumulated debt from 1997 up to 2000-2001, where there was a substantial rebasing done of about $4 million. It was a process that I have laid out a number of times in this House since yesterday, and it is underway. The deficit reduction plans are all in and it is being dealt with by all the authorities and the department. It is part of having a system that is responsible.

Recognizing there are many pressures and forced growth issues, there is still a requirement upon boards and authorities to try to live within the budgets that have been agreed to, because we, like all other parts of the system, must compete for limited resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in that long answer, I do not believe he answered my question as to exactly what his instructions were to the board in terms of coming up with a debt recovery plan. I ask again, Mr. Speaker, did the Minister tell the board that it was okay to close the ICU, close surgery and not hire anymore staff as long as they come up with a $500,000 surplus? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

No, Mr. Speaker, that was not my instruction. Thank you.