Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. In the North, we continue to, for example, consume and abuse alcohol at two-and-a-half to three times the national average. There is an increasing inflow of drugs from the South like cocaine and crack cocaine and probably crystal meth. Northerners have shown a prodigious appetite for those substances. It is not something that we have been able to turn around at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is why I asked the Minister to look at some innovative solutions in terms of curbing the hard drugs in our communities, by talking to these other Ministers and saying that this is a comprehensive approach. Again, go back to the report that Mr. Andre, deputy mayor from Fort McPherson, is talking about, having underage children who have been dealing with underage drinking in the community of Fort McPherson. I am asking the Minister, can he look at other solutions with

other colleagues in terms of coming up with a northern solution? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to the Member that we will make sure that this is an agenda item on our next meeting with the social envelope Ministers, which is going to happen within the next couple of weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when he has this social envelope meeting with the other Ministers, would the Minister commit to possibly looking at bringing some other people from the communities in terms of maybe looking at a solution in the North? I know we can deal with this issue in the Northwest Territories. That can be done. We could pull our people together; they are smart. I believe that the Minister wants to have that happen also, so would he look at possibly bringing in some people from the communities to look at this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the meeting, we will, of course, look at all aspects of this issue and how best to proceed with the fundamental issue: how do we encourage and educate people to make the right personal choice so that they don't start abusing alcohol or start using the drugs that have been mentioned in this House today. That involves the individuals. It involves the parents, families as well as the community, so, when we have this discussion at our next meeting, we will make sure that we look at all those aspects. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for the Honourable Michael McLeod, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, and in his capacity for the NWT Council of Sport and Recreation Partners, which, Mr. Speaker, has been in the making for arguably more than four years now. I understand, Mr. Speaker, that this council has now finally been formatted and put together. I wanted to ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, when this council is going to actually get off the ground and what its mandate is. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our plans for this new sports council coming into operation is April of 2005. We want to have one year or some time for transition to allow for Members to develop some new business plans and budgets and plan for the integration of some of the programs and services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. The creation of this council, it seems, is something very much driven by the government. The history was one of expectations and things that people from various sectors, various communities and regions thought should be in there but weren't quite being delivered on. I would like to probe again just what is the mandate of this council and how is it going to improve the delivery of sport and recreation services in the NWT. The mandates, please, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my first answer, the committee is going to be formulated over this next while. The plans are to have it operational by April of this year. The mandate and business plans are all yet to be developed. The intention of creating this new council was to have the amalgamation of all our sports priorities under one umbrella to create a forum where all communities would have a voice...

---Applause

...and be able to reduce some of the overlap in terms of providing programs and services and also have the ability to coordinate some of our services and, at the same time, reduce some of our costs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay, so we are getting somewhere. Those are very positive and desirable goals. I guess, in that though, whenever we create some new organization or some new system, Mr. Speaker, we should always be looking for ways in which we are going to measure its progress. How are we going to assess its value and see if it is, indeed, sticking to those goals? Could the Minister advise the Assembly what are the measurements by which we would be able to assess this new council's aspirations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware, at this point, if we have developed the process areas or time frames where we would perform an evaluation. We certainly could work on that and develop and build it into our business plan as we work them out in the next while. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay. I guess this leaves me wondering, and I think it shouldn't leave the communities wondering and the volunteers and the many participants in our sport and recreation system wondering, Mr. Speaker, why we are taking this step. It has been a torturous journey for the creation of this council, but we really have the thinnest and most skeletal of arrangements for how it is going to work. When can the Minister bring back to this Assembly a better plan and a framework for how it is going to work, and how we will be able to gauge its success? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.