Again, Mr. Speaker, I cannot disagree with the Minister. In fact, this is what my constituents told me. That where we're falling down is on prevention and treatment, as well as follow-up. So what then, Mr. Speaker, what can I go back and say to my constituents that we have done and we are doing to tackle these problems from the front end, from the prevention and awareness side? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the city of Yellowknife there is an initiative that's underway, spearheaded initially by the RCMP to bring the various practicing non-government organizations and support groups and services that are currently provided to the table to see how they can better coordinate and collaborate on their efforts, both on the prevention as well as dealing with the issue of alcohol abuse as it currently exists.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to work with the communities, the health authorities, with this legislature in terms of funding requests and program development, to see how we can, in fact, deal on a treatment side. Once again, Mr. Speaker, the fundamental issue is how do we get people to make the right choices so babies are born healthy, that we avoid the abuse that's tied to alcohol and we get the people to make the right choices when it comes to the consumption and abuse of alcohol so that they avoid doing that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to getting that message across, we don't seem to be very successful. The numbers would seem to indicate that we're going the wrong way. What innovation is the department bringing to getting this message across? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Health and Social Services has a budget of about $230 million this year, which is up almost $40 million over the last three to four years. A significant amount of that money is tied into dealing with issues that are related to alcohol, to the effects, the treatment issues, the drug abuse. Mr. Speaker, we're working, we have a strategy that's approved, a mental health and alcohol and drug addictions strategy, that's been approved that we're getting funding for. We need ongoing funding to implement it. We're consistently working with the authorities. We always welcome the advice and direction that we can get from our colleagues in the House. This is a very terrible and complex problem and it is a battle that we are not winning.

So, Mr. Speaker, we don't have any pat answers. We're pouring enormous amounts of resources into treatment of the health issues related to this. We have yet to come to grips with a final answer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Handley.

Mr. Speaker, no, I'm not aware of the government ever doing any comprehensive study of the impact of decentralizing a lot of positions. We look at each situation case by case in terms of its impact, but not a comprehensive study. This government certainly hasn't done one. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we can certainly take that into consideration as we put together a transition document for the next government, but even if we started it now the bulk of the work would be really in the hands of the next government. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Handley.

Mr. Speaker, certainly if the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight is interested in looking at the terms of reference or something for a study like that, that could be recommended to the next government and definitely we'd be interested in involving them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we've done a fair bit of work on the transition document. I think a lot of it has been shared with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight so far. I will take a look at the issue that he's raising and see whether or not that is something we could add on at this point. It's a very complex task if you start to look at the relationship between social conditions, problems, employment, alcohol, drugs and so on. I think there would have to be a lot of background work before we could ever frame up a study. I'm sure in Yellowknife, for example, the biggest centre with the most employment, we have some very serious problems even here. So it doesn't just happen in the small communities. It's a complex one, but I will certainly talk to my staff about it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.