Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just a few general comments from myself as well. This is the first chance I have had to publicly acknowledge and thank the Minister for fighting hard for extra money for Stanton. I appreciate that very much and I know it wasn't easy. I realize that there was an extended period of denial on the part of the Minister as to the need for extra funding at Stanton, but he did come around and I thank him very much for that. I know that the staff and the clients that use the hospital appreciate that as well. I want to put that on top of my list of things to say.

It's well known that institutions we all have come to rely on went through a little bit of trauma prior to Christmas. I know that the management and everyone there is working hard to put everything into some state of normalcy. Talking to the people at my "Coffee's On Me" at Tim Horton's -- because you always get a good source of information at Tim Horton's -- there seems to be less anxiety on the part of the staff there. I think everyone still feels that there is a lot of work to do. At some point, you need that extra money to get the job done, but once you get the money you still have to manage it and meet the needs on a priority basis. I believe that my colleagues have already touched on the need for recruitment and retention plans and so forth. I know the Minister has been working on this. I just want to state that the focus has to be as much on the retention of it as well as the recruitment of these personnel with the new money that is available there. We have to really appreciate the burden that has been on the staff there to keep the place running. They have to be recognized for that. Any compensation packages that are being designed to recruit must take into consideration the needs of the people who are already there.

I think addressing the housing of allied health professionals will go a long way and I know that this is not a topic that the Minister or the government wants to get into lightly, but I believe that's something that has to be considered. It's an issue that keeps coming up by everyone who has any dealings with the hospital or the health care field.

If the people who come up here to work and provide health care services have to spend most of their money on housing and cost of living, it's just not attractive for people to come and stay. To offer a whole new package to new people that is not available to the ones that are already here, would not be a good thing for morale either. I know the Minister is working on classification of current positions to address some of the gaps in this area. I urge the Minister to keep putting his energy there and following it through.

Mr. Chairman, I don't think I need to say anymore about the fact that not addressing this recruitment and retention situation would end up costing us more and more of very scarce health care dollars.

I also wanted to say a couple more things on the health area. I have had occasion to be at the hospital more than I would like to be. Some happy news with friends having babies; people who get service from Stanton are very happy with that service. It's amazing even when the place was going through a lot of stress, the staff there are dedicated and they give a lot more than is called for, but there are some things that I am hearing lately that concern me. There is a constituent in my riding, for example, who couldn't - and I am not talking specifically about the hospital but health care services in general in the Territories - get diagnosed here. After months and months of trying, he ended up going south and spending his own money, a lot of money, thousands of dollars, to get a diagnosis. I am sure there are a lot of people out there who know of cases like that. I think that as legislators, we have to be very concerned when the services we are able to provide here or we are not providing here is causing people to go elsewhere and spend their money. Not only is that contrary to the kind of universal care that we believe in and the accessibility of health care for people, but it may end up in a situation where people with the money could go and get diagnoses, thereby creating different systems for different people. I don't fault at all those people who might feel the need to go south and spend their own money to get the diagnoses and treatment they need, but whenever that happens, it calls for reflection on our part to see what we are doing wrong.

Another point I want to make on health care issues is the $250 co-payment. I know this is an issue that has been brought up over and over. I have had the occasion to talk to the Minister about this in person. It appears there is a major gap in terms of who is having to pay for this medical co-payment. Those people who are fortunate enough to have government insurance or company insurance that pays for this, they don't have to deal with this. Many of our aboriginal population have their own programs that would pay for this. I think it's the working poor who have no insurance or other assistance in this area who are being penalized. They are the ones who are self-employed or working in a job that is not insured and often when they have to take time off with out pay to go for this sort of treatment down south or go for appointments or diagnoses, they are having extra things thrown on top of them. While $250 may not be a big amount of money for some, it can be a huge amount for others. I know that the Minister had indicated that he was in the process of reviewing this. I think there has to be a sense of fairness here and it shouldn't be done in a way that is penalizing those who are falling through the gaps.

Those are the three issues. If the Minister wants to comment, that would be great. I am going to save social services questions or comments for another time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.