I, for one, stand here today knowing what the communities are going through. Here is the point. This is what has been posted in our communities: "To all community residents: While community residents in the Northwest Territories expect nurses shortages along with the rest of Canada, this means at this time that the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services has to restrict the services we normally provide to our clients. Formally, our communities will be affected as follows: Emergency services only from July 30th to August 12th and from August 18th to September 16th. Daily clinics will not be scheduled and only urgent emergency cases will be seen at the Health Centre." Then it gives you a phone number to call at the Inuvik Regional Hospital.

For us to say we provide services to the people, we have seen the outcry because of a few doctor specialists. We make a major move to increase their wages to improve services. Have we seen an improvement in services to the people in our communities? No, we have not. If anything, I hate to admit it, it has gone down in regard to the quality of the services we are getting in our small communities.

Mr. Speaker, we have programs that are socially offered right across Canada in regards to ensuring that the well-being of Canadians is taken up to federal programs. I would like to know as the Government of the Northwest Territories, are we even meeting the national standards that are out there to providing the service to the rest of Canadians across the country?

I, Mr. Speaker, will have some questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services who I have been corresponding for months on end, if not years on end, on this issue. So I will be asking the Minister a question on this matter later. Thank you.

---Applause