Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand here at the pleasure of the House as the Minister of Health and Social Services. I have the political responsibility to answer to this House on concerns about the system and I accept that responsibility.
Mr. Speaker, my colleagues have made many sweeping generalizations and general condemnation of the health and social services system. They say there's no attention and that we're ignoring the problems. Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge that we do have problems with the health and social services system; that it is a very complex issue affecting every one of the people we represent.
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister, I want to speak in defense of the people who work at the community level in all the communities that provide service in very difficult circumstances and under tremendous pressure. I want to speak in defense of the people at the regional level; of the authorities comprised of local people charged with the responsibility of administering many services, life through death, to the people of the regions that they represent. A representation, Mr. Speaker, that up until a few years ago was not there. I want to speak in defense of the Health and Social Services department and staff who work at this level to provide the service to do the legislation to provide the support to all the people that work down the chain, to the communities, to the frontline workers.
Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility when we stand in this House. We have the right to say what we will. But making sweeping generalizations and general condemnations is not appropriate and is not accurate and is not fair. Mr. Speaker, in the last two years alone the budget of Health and Social Services has gone up $49 million. The clear majority of that money has gone to the communities. We've added doctors, nurses, mid-wives, long-term care workers, mental health workers and, Mr. Speaker, the plan is to continue that support.
The clear reality is, Mr. Speaker, as a government we know we have far more problems than we have resources, but that does not stop the people in the system that work night and day for their lives and their professions to provide the service to the people. We should always recognize that and keep it in mind. We are victims, as well, of shortages clear across Canada, North America and Europe of doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals. That's a reality. We have to pay dearly for some of the services, I acknowledge that, but they are services that we have no choice but to pay for because we need them for the health of the people.
Mr. Speaker, the reality is, as well, if they doubled the budget of Health and Social Services, the way we're going, within two or three years that would be gone. You cannot escape the issue of personal responsibility and it's not just smoking which drives our costs. Mr. Speaker, as a territory and as a population, we drink too much, we smoke too much, we eat the wrong kind of foods, we don't exercise enough and we tend to be, as a result, overweight. Mr. Speaker, those basic facts, hard as they may be for some people to accept, drive the cost of this health care system to a significant degree. Those are all based on personal choice.
Mr. Speaker, the one most telling example I would like to use is FASD. If we could just convince pregnant mothers not to drink then we could have our children born healthy. That alone would be a tremendous success. We can't stop the efforts to educate the people, to encourage them to make the right personal choices. We can stand in this House today and say we have to keep fixing things after they are broken and we can try to do that, but clearly the system is under tremendous stress and we don't have the resources.
So, Mr. Speaker, the motion is there and I can tell this House that the people in the system worked long and hard and I take this job very seriously and I, as well, worked long and hard trying to do the best that we can in the system to make sure we have the services for the people. We have many things to do and lots of work yet to do. We're going to continue to do that. I stand before this House charged with the serious issue of misconduct and I'd await the direction of the House. Thank you.
---Applause